Market is likely to open in green; eyes on US job data

Indian equities indices rebounded from earlier losses in the last hour of trade on Thursday on account of buying in metals and mining, IT and oil & gas stocks. The Sensex closed up 129.21 points or 0.5% at 26843.14, and the Nifty was up 39 points or 0.5% at 8218.95. Nifty settled above 8,200 for the first time since October 2015. On sectoral front, metal index was the star-performer and was up 1.99%, followed by PSU 1.11%, banking 0.92% and capital goods 0.8%. On the other hand, consumer durables index was down 0.66% and healthcare 0.42%. On the broader markets front, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices gained 0.66% and 0.29% respectively.

U.S. stocks to edge into the green at Thursday’s closing bell as oil prices reversed course to settle in positive territory after a weekly report showed a decline in U.S. crude inventories. Investors are keeping an eye on highly anticipated employment report which is due on Friday. The S&P 500 index rose 5.93 points, or 0.3%, to 2,105.26. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 48.89 points, or 0.3%, to 17,838.56. Nasdaq Composite advanced 19.11 points, or 0.4%, to 4,971.36.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, settled above USD 50 a barrel Thursday for the first time since November on continued declines in U.S. crude-oil inventories and production. Prices fell early in the session as OPEC fails to reach agreement on oil production ceiling at its meeting in Vienna. Brent crude settled up 32 cents, or 0.6%, at USD 50.04 a barrel and WTI settled up 16 cents, or 0.3%, at USD 49.17 a barrel.

European blue-chip stocks managed a small gain Thursday as key meetings of the ECB and OPEC in Vienna failed to deliver any news to accelerate market. The Stoxx Europe 600 ended up 0.1% at 344.35. Germany’s DAX 30 ended 3.56 points higher at 10,208.00, while France’s CAC 40 lost 0.2% at 4,466.00. The U.K’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1% to 6,185.61.

Mostly Asian markets opened higher on Friday as markets awaited key U.S. jobs data that’s likely to get clue for Federal Reserve policy. Japan's Nikkei 225 index added 0.2% despite stronger yen. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.62%. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index gained 0.28%, on track for a weekly advance of 0.4%, while the Kospi index in Seoul shed 0.11%. The Shanghai Composite was hovering around the flat line.

On the domestic front, A SGX Nifty 50 index future for June series is trading down by 32.5 points at 8,266. Indian markets are likely to open in green ahead of US job data.