Will Nifty hit 6000? Cues that will help it on its way

Moneycontrol Bureau

US market

In the US, stocks posted a modest gain in thin, volatile trading as the weekly jobless claims slipped by 25,000 and ahead of the monthly government jobs report due today. Investors remained cautious about the looming "fiscal cliff" issue.

Nasdaq closed with half a percent gain following recovery in Apple. The CBOE volatility index closed above 16.

On economic data front, weekly jobless claims slipped by 25,000 to 370,000 during the week ended first of December. Meanwhile, according to a report from consultants challenger, Gray & Christmas, planned layoffs rose for the third month in a row in November.

Key data to watch out for in the US today

Investors will be looking ahead to today's government jobs report. Consensus estimates indicate a gain of 93,000 in payrolls and an unchanged unemployment rate of 7.9 percent in November.

Europe

European shares finished in positive territory as both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England kept interest rates unchanged as expected.

Britain's central bank left key rate on hold at 0.5 percent. The BoE also decided to leave the 375 billion pounds ceiling for quantitative easing unchanged.

Asia

Asian markets opened mildly in the green today morning.

FDI in retail

UPA is all set to win the winter test in both houses of Parliament. This after BSP chief Mayawati has declared that she will vote for the government on FDI in retail in the Rajya Sabha.

This assures the UPA of the much-needed numbers ahead of yesterday's vote. The other fence-sitter from UP - the Samajwadi Party, has announced it will stage a walkout today.

The Indian market cheered this news closed at a 20-month high on Thrusday. The Nifty ended at 5,930, up 30 points and the Sensex closed at 19,486, up 95 points.

Currency

In other asset classes, the euro struggled at one-week lows against the dollar, after the ECB painted a bleak outlook for the euro zone and discussed cutting interest rates.  The dollar index climbed back above the 80 mark.

Indian rupee hit a 1-month high on hopes of strong fund flows as BSP lend their party's support to government on FDI issue in the Rajya Sabha.

Commodities

Commodities too took a hit, Brent crude tumbled to nearly 2 percent to USD 107 levels. From the precious metals space, gold prices increased to USD 1700 levels ahead of the US jobs data report

Ahead of the mid quarter policy on December 18th, RBI governor D Subbarao said that they will take into account the growth inflation trajectory in next policy.