Nifty consolidating may grind lower

India market

The BSE Sensex closed the day in a negative terrain at 19923.78, just below 20,000 levels. Yesterday L&T announced its result where it met Street expectations. Maruti Suzuki  will report its third quarter results today, amid continued sluggish demand for passenger vehicles in the domestic market.

But the India's largest passenger car maker will be boosted by resumption of normal operations at Manesar plant, higher realisations and improved margins. The market has been in a consolidation mode for some time now and will the RBI policy on Tuesday cheer the market with rate cuts, which is now seen as one of the key factor for pushing the market. 

Asian markets

Asian shares were steady on Friday after solid global economic data boosted investor appetite for riskier assets, while the yen hit fresh lows on expectations Japan will pursue bold policies to beat deflation and stimulate growth.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed, with Australian shares rising 0.3 percent after earlier hitting a fresh 21-month high for an eighth straight session of gains.

South Korean shares opened up 0.1 percent, with the focus on Samsung Electronics Co's earnings results after rival Apple Inc's below-estimate results sent shares of Asian tech companies lower on Thursday.
US markets end mixed

Apple plunged more than 12 percent after the company posted revenue that fell short of estimates and iPhone sales that missed quarterly expectations. The CBOE volatility index ended above 12.

European markets

European markets closed higher with the market taking direction from an opening rise on Wall Street where the S&P 500 hit the 1,500 mark for the first time since December 2007.

Currency

In the currency space, the euro is above 1.33 to the dollar. The dollar index around the 80 mark and the yen tumbles 2 percent against the dollar after a Japanese economic official said the government has no problem with the dollar hitting 100 yen.

Crude

In commodities, Brent crude rises to 113 dollar levels on better than expected economic data from US and China.

Gold

Gold is soft at sub USD 1670 levels.