Expecting green opening on positive global cues

For the most part of the day, Indian equities market traded on a firm note after the Federal Reserve scaled back its projection for interest-rate hikes; however they pared their day’s gain in the last thirty minutes of trade on account of profit booking. The Sensex was down 5.11 points at 24,677.37; and the Nifty managed to close up 13.80 points or 0.2% at 7,512.55 i.e. above its crucial psychological level of 7,500; but much lower than its day's high of 7,585.

Pharma stocks were witnessing the heat of selling pressure on reports that the sector in India could witness an immediate loss of Rs 1,000 crore due to the government ban on combination drugs that include cough syrups, anti-diabetic medicines and flu treatments.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose for the fifth straight session on Thursday to close in positive territory for 2016 for the first time this year which is a remarkable comeback from a worst start ever to a year. The Dow Jones rose 155.73 points or 0.9% to 17,481.49. The S&P 500 index gained 13.37 points, or 0.7% to 2,040.59. The Nasdaq composite rose 11.01 points, or 0.2% to 4,774.99.

The dollar, after years of strength, has weakened after a Fed decision to leave rates unchanged and to tone down the pace of increments. So owing to a weaker dollar, industrial exporting companies will be able to sell more products overseas.

The price of oil also crossed a threshold, closing above USD 40 a barrel for the first time since early December. WTI crude rose USD 1.74, or 4.5% to close at USD 40.20 a barrel. Brent crude gained USD 1.21 or 3% to USD 41.54 a barrel in London.

Major European equity markets dropped on account of dip in prices of export based companies as the Euro strengthened against the dollar after the U.S. Federal Reserve flagged fewer rate increments this year than previously expected. The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed down only 0.1%. Germany’s DAX gave up 0.9% and the CAC-40 in France lost 0.5%. Britain’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.4%.

Markets in Asia opened mostly higher on Friday after U.S. indices turned positive for the year and oil prices hit their highest levels for this year. Japan's Nikkei 225 index shed 1.2%, extending its fall over the previous three sessions after the yen jumped against the dollar. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.2%; and New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 0.4%. South Korea’s Kospi index climbed 0.3%. Mainland Chinese markets were higher. The Shanghai Composite was up 1.25%.

While on domestic front, A SGX Nifty 50 index future for March series traded up 59 points at 7,548. Indian markets are likely to open in green tracking gains in Asian shares.