Market Likely To Open In Green

Indian equities market on Friday settled marginally higher despite opening with a big gap up in the morning trade. The Sensex was up 66.12 points or 0.25% at 26,220.95, and the Nifty ended up 2 points or 0.03% at 7,950.90. But the buoyancy was tempered by a long weekend as the market remained closed on Friday on account of Gandhi Jayanti, drop in manufacturing PMI and hints of a US Fed rate hike by its Chairman Janet Yellen at the end of the year. For the week, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended on a positive note with a gain of over 1%. During the week, the Reserve Bank of India cheered investors by reducing repo rate by 50 basis points to 6.75% from 7.25% earlier. However, the central bank kept the cash reserve ratio unchanged at 4% of net demand and time liability (NDTL). Small-cap and mid-cap indices too edged up 0.92% and 2.08%, respectively, on buying by retail investors.

Rate-sensitive sectors like automobiles, housing finance companies; real estate, capital goods and NBFCs were in limelight. It also helped stabilize the market. September saw FII outflow of Rs 5,900 crore while DIIs counterbalanced with an inflow of Rs 7,070 crore, thus drastically reducing the selling pressure in the market.

On the economy front, the growth of eight core sectors slowed down to 2.6% in August mainly due to contraction in steel output. The expansion in eight infrastructure sectors, which contribute about 38% to the overall industrial production, was 5.9% in the same month last year.

US stocks market have closed the week on a positive note thanks to a late-afternoon rally, but a weak US jobs report added to worries that the economy is slowing. The S&P 500 closed 27.54 points, or 1.4%, higher at 1,951.36 and recorded a 1% gain over the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 200.36 points, or 1.2%, to 16,472.37 and was 1% higher for the week. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite advanced 80.69 points, or 1.7%, to 4,707.78 and ended with a 0.5% weekly gain. Next week's key economic reports include the ISM reading of services sector activity for September, US trade data for August and the minutes from the September Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting.

European equities pared losses to trade higher on Friday, after official jobs numbers from the U.S. came in way below expectations. The Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.5% to close at 347.86 and for the week, the pan-European benchmark closed 0.4% lower. Germany’s DAX 30 index ended 0.5% higher at 9,553.07, while France’s CAC 40 index rose 0.7% to 4,458.88. For the week, the two indexes lost 1.4% and 0.5%, respectively. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index climbed 1% to 6,129.98, gained 0.3% for the week.

Asian equities kicked off the trading week on a positive note after a weak U.S. employment report on Friday as expectations that the U.S. Fed will remain on hold for longer. Markets in China remain closed until Wednesday for National Day holidays. Japan’s NIKKEI 225 index rose 1.22%, and South Korea’s Kospi index increased 1.2%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped 1.67% as commodity shares led gains. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 0.6%.

A SGX CNX Nifty Index future for October delivery was up 77 points at 8,035. Indian market is likely to open in green on positive global cues.