Morning cues: Global factors may power market rally today

Indian Market

The BSE Sensex closed the day on Friday on marginal positive note at 20039.04. The earnings, overall so far has been well taken by the Street. The global cues on the other hand have been supportive for last 15 days. One needs to watch if the trend continues and the Sensex touches 25000- mark by the end of the year.

Asian markets

Asian markets were trading mixed. China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.28% or 6.50 points at 2,323.57. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat at 23,623.35. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.83% or 90.92 points at 10,822.38.  Singapore's Straits Times gained 0.21% or 6.59 points at 3,217.81. South Korea's Seoul Composite was down 0.66% or 13.06 points at 1,974.79.  Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted slipped 0.64% or 49.34 points at 7,683.53.
US

The US, the DOW and S&P 500 turned decisively higher in the final minutes of trading to close at their best level since December 2007 and all three major averages turned in their third-straight weekly gain. For the week, the DOW jumped 1.20 percent, the S&P 500 advanced 0.95 percent, and the Nasdaq rose 0.29 percent. The CBOE volatility index fell near 12 to close at its lowest level since April 2007

European markets weak

European shares slipped as disappointing economic data in the UK and US. Dampened sentiment, but technical support and on-going central bank stimulus measures kept indexes at multi-month highs.

Currency

In the currency space, the euro is above 1.33 to the dollar. Meanwhile the dollar index climbs back above the 80 mark, the yen sinks to a fresh 2 and a half year low

Commodities

In commodities, Brent crude prices are around USD 111 levels.

Gold

Gold prices rise to USD 1689 levels.