Global markets end mixed, how will Nifty react?

In the US, stocks finished mixed fon Wednesday following the prior day's jump, with volatility still in play after minutes from the Federal Reserve had central bankers viewing the benefits of monetary stimulus as diminishing over time, and a report on payrolls was better than anticipated. US treasury yields also topped 3% before receding a tad. European markets closed mostly lower. Meanwhile, Asian markets slumped in morning trade today ahead of China's inflation data.

Also Read: S&P 500 ends flat in wake of Fed minutes

The minutes out from the Fed's meeting show that the FOMC is not throwing caution to the wind and is planning to tread carefully this year.

On the economic data front - the ADP monthly report shows that 238,000 jobs were created in December. That is higher than last month's number and ahead of forecasts as well.

In Europe, equities closed mixed, after the Eurozone unemployment data for November showed little sign of improving labor markets.

In commodities, crude prices rose in early Asian trade, recovering from a six week-low in the previous session when a large build in crude stockpiles at the contract's delivery point in Cushing, Oklahoma, weighed on the market. 

From precious metals space - gold prices are little changed this morning after losses in the last two sessions, as strong US jobs data took the sheen off the metal's safe-haven appeal and with investors eyeing more data through the week for clues on strength of the economy. 

In Asia, Chinese consumer inflation slowed to 2.5 percent in December from November's 3 percent figure, coming in below the Reuters expectations for a 2.7 percent gain while producer prices fell 1.4 percent from a year earlier. Larger gains were capped on after the People's Bank of China skipped open market operations for a fifth straight session.

Asian markets were trading almost flat in early morning trade. Japan’s Nikkei was down 1.2 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng, Singapore's Straits Times remained flat. China's Shanghai Composite was up half a percent up. The Sensex closed yesterday at 20729.38 points, up 0.17%, while Nifty closed at 6174.60, up 0.20%.