Asian stocks firm, Indian indices likely to witness a gap-up start

The Indian benchmark indices on Thursday got off to a cautious start and thereafter, indices traded in a tight range near neutral line, throughout the session.  At the end of the day, the NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index - Nifty settled with minor loss of five points above the psychological 9,600 mark, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index - Sensex shed eight points and closed above the psychological 31,100 mark.

The European markets ended Thursday's session with marginal gains, however, the markets were caught in a sideways trend throughout the session. The DAX of Germany scaled 0.40 per cent and the CAC 40 of France advanced 0.66 per cent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 0.32 per cent.

U.S. stocks climbed on Thursday, with all three main stock indexes closed at records as a strong read on private sector employment helped to bolster confidence in the economy.  The S&P 500 index gained 18 points to finish at 2,430. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 136 points to end at 21,144. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 48 points to close at 6,247.

Most of the Asian markets were trading firm on Friday. Japan’s markets Nikkei 225 surged 252 points. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 149 points. Whereas, China’s Shanghai Composite bucking the positive trend slipped 3 points.

At 7:45 am, SGX Nifty Index trading with gains of 43 points at 9,676, indicating a gap-up start for Indian indices.