First Look: Your 10-sec guide to global mkt cues

Moneycontrol Bureau

The US markets rallied with the Dow posting its first finish above 16,000, as the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits declined to a near two-month low. Halting its longest-running losing streak in eight weeks, the S&P 500 too inched closer to 1800. And the Nasdaq-led the charge with gains of 1.20 percent. The CBOE volatility index, which has advanced nearly 4 percent this week, fell to below 13.

Initial jobless claims fell by 21,000 to 323,000 and this is much lower than expectations of a reading of 335,000. Preliminary numbers from Markit show that manufacturing in the US rebounded to an eight month high in November, rising to 54.3.

The US senate banking committee has approved Janet Yellen's nomination to become the first woman to lead the Federal Reserve. The entire senate will now vote on her replacing Ben Bernanke next. Bernanke's term expires on January 31 next year. Will Janet Yellen be as dovish as people expect her to be? Watch video for expert opinion

European equities closed mixed as investors reacted to worse-than-expected data for the euro zone. The flash composite euro zone purchasing manager's index (PMI) fell to 51.5 in November, down from 51.9 in October.

In the currency space, the yen falls to a fresh four-year low against the euro early in Asian trade, left exposed after promising data in both Germany and the United States underpinned the single currency and the US dollar.

In commodities, crude prices are subdued this morning after rising USD 1/bbl yesterday, boosted by positive US economic data and surging gasoline prices as demand was expected to rise.

From precious metals space, gold settled over 1 percent lower on Thursday, in the wake of constructive US jobless data, and hurt by fears the US Federal Reserve might be able to start scaling back its stimulus programme soon.

Equities were not alone in being haunted by the taper fear. The rupee also weakened sharply in yesterday's session, as the dollar got a boost from the Fed chatter. The Indian currency inched closer to the 63 per dollar mark, ending the session at 62.94 to the dollar level. Not only that, bond prices also fell sharply, as dealers avoided fresh purchases ahead of today's Rs 15,000 crore auction.

The big corporate news back home, the Holcim-Ambuja merger has gotten the nod of shareholders. Over 68 percent of the minority shareholders voted in favour of the deal.

NSEL promoter Jignesh Shah has moved closer to brokering peace with NSEL investors. Financial Technologies is close to finalising a settlement to the tune Rs 1,100 to Rs 1,200 crore.

The Reserve Bank of India is worried about the high exposure of banks to the real estate sector. In its trends & progress report, RBI says banks are pushing for credit growth in sensitive sectors like realty as loans to the industry has dried up.