Markets may open with modest gains

Indian shares nudged higher in early trade on Thursday, however, it failed to sustain above its 50-day SMA and in the mid-morning session it slipped in negative terrain to end the day with modest losses. At the end of the day, Nifty lost 0.26% to settle at 9,889 and the BSE Sensex shed 0.25% to settle at 31,592. The BSE Mid-Cap and Small-Cap index outperformed the benchmarks as both these indices gained 0.49% and 0.79% respectively.

The majority of European markets ended Thursday’s session on a positive note. The French CAC 40 Index gained 0.30% and the FTSE 100 of the UK rose 0.54%. The German DAX settled just below the neutral line.

On Wall Street, all three stock market benchmarks finished at records for the third day in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 114 points to finish at 22,775. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 50 points to finish at 6,585 and the S&P 500 rose 14 points to close at 2,552.

Indexes in Asia were trading in positive terrain in early deals on Friday following positive close on Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 has rose 40 points and the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has edged up 156 points. The China’s Shanghai Composite was closed for a public holiday.

The outlook for the day is optimistic start as cues from global market are positive. The Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange suggest Nifty may open at 9,935 with gains of 15 points.