Opening bell: Nifty likely to open flat, negative bias seen

Moneycontrol Bureau

The Indian market is expected to continue its flat move with the SGX Nifty trading around 8422, down nearly 2 points around 7:50 am.

The market on Thursday took a good end to otherwise quite a subdued session because at one point of time the Nifty was down close to around 20 points but staged a big recovery from the days low and ended the day in the green with a gain of around 20 points closing at 8402. BSE benchmark Sensex gained 35 points to close at 28,068. Globally, US markets closed higher after encouraging domestic data alleviated concerns over continued signs of slowing growth in Europe and China.

The Philly Fed index posted 40.8 for November, more than double the expected 18.3 and the highest since December 1993. Existing home sales hit 5.26 million and leading indicators gained 0.9 percent, both beating expectations for October.

The Dow Jones industrial average ended the day at a record for the 27th time this year, while the S&P 500 closed at a record for the 44th time.

Meanwhile, the White House released the details of President Barack Obama's immigration reform plans yesterday.

On the other hand, Europe closed mixed as investors reacted to worse-than-expected data from the euro zone and disappointing corporate earnings from the mining sector. Spanish and Italian index ended lower while the Russia and index ended higher.

Among Asian markets, Nikkei is trading lower today as the yen has strengthened. Cautious sentiment is also ignited as the country dissolves the lower house of parliament after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called a snap election two days ago.

South Korean won hovered near a 14-month low in early trade.In the currency space, dollar pauses for breath today as its recent strength against the yen attracted profit taking, though the market mood remains bullish on the currency given the outperformance of the US economy. The rupee appreciated partially, gaining 0.03 percent to close at 61.94 against the greenback.

In commodities, Brent crude prices rise to USD 79 per barrel as strong US economic data bolstered crude markets but focus remained on whether OPEC will cut enough output to end a five-month long sell-off when it meets next week.

From precious metals space, gold rises on data showing rising US inflation, and after the previous day's 1-percent drop triggered renewed physical interest by price-sensitive Asian buyers.

Back home, Kotak Mahindra Bank acquires ING Vysya Bank in an all-stock deal. Kotak will shell out a 16 premium for ING Vysya's shares. The combined entity will have a deposit base of over Rs 1 lakh crore.

Tech Mahindra makes its biggest overseas acquisition, buys US-based network services provider Lightbridge Communications for USD 240 million. The Indian company expects revenues to hit USD 1 billion post the deal.

Stung by the National Stock Exchange scam, Jignesh Shah loses control of the company he founded. Prashant Desai has been appointed as the new MD and CEO of the Financial Technologies with Shah now being the chairman emeritus for the company.