Indices may open trade with small gains

Indian equity markets in India ended Thursday’s range-bound session on a flat note. Metal and mining stocks were buzzing on the bourses, while index heavyweight and cigarette major ITC ended lower. The BSE Sensex closed almost unchanged at 31,663 and the Nifty ended above 9,900 mark with gains of 14 points.

The European indices ended Thursday’s session marginally higher. The European Central Bank left its interest rates and asset purchases unchanged and retained its downward bias on asset purchases. The DAX of Germany inched up 0.67% followed by the FTSE 100 of the UK and the CAC 40 of France which closed higher by 0.58% and 0.26 respectively.

The US’ stock indexes ended Thursday’s session on a mixed note with the tech-laden Nasdaq closing in positive territory and the Dow and S&P 500 ended slightly lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the session down by 23 points at 21,785 and the S&P 500 lost less than a single digit to 2,465. The Nasdaq inched up 5 points to 6,398.

On Friday, the majority of the Asian markets are trading in positive terrain in early trade. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has surged 133 points and China’s Shanghai Composite traded flat. While Japan’s Nikkei 225 has dipped 74 points.

Domestic markets may open the last trading session of the week on a positive note tracking positive sentiments prevailing in the Asian markets. The SGX Nifty, which was trading at 9,974 up by 17 points, indicating an optimistic start for the day.