Markets to start on an encouraging note on upbeat global cues

The Indian markets closed with strong gains in last session as they got some support in the second half after the European market opening, which helped the local indices to move out of range bound trades. Today, the start is likely to be encouraging as the over the weekend rally on Wall Street on the back of cheerful US jobs data is likely to fuel optimism in local markets. India’s PSU oil stocks are likely to be buzzing in the session after finance minister Pranab Mukherjee reaffirmed US lawmakers that India won't cut oil imports from Iran, despite tough American and European sanctions. Besides, the grand plans of the state governments to purchase power from other states hit a road block due to non-availability of a corridor to evacuate power. Meanwhile, investors also will be high on confidence since the Trial court verdict on Saturday dismissed a plea to probe Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's involvement in the 2G spectrum allocation scam. Apart from this there will be lots of scrip specific actions to keep the markets buzzing.

There will be lots of result announcements to keep the markets buzzing, Adani Ports, Adani Power, Dena Bank, Glaxosmithkline Consumer Healthcare, Gujarat Industries, Hindustan Unilever, India Cements, Kesoram Industries, Merck, Spicejet, Mukta Arts and Trent are among the many to announce their numbers today. 

The US markets staged a sharp rally on Friday after the closely tracked US employment reports signaled a generally strong picture of the world’s largest economy. The government's monthly snapshot of the US jobs market showed acceleration in hiring along with the lowest unemployment rate since early 2009 which bolstered sentiment among investors. The Asian markets too have managed to extent the previous session’s rally and barring one-two indices, most are trading on a positive note after an upbeat jobs report from the US suggested the recovery in the world's biggest economy was picking up momentum.

Back home, Indian equity markets witnessed a marvelous session of trade as the frontline indices not only bounced strongly in the last leg of trade and broke out of the tight range but also managed to re-capture the psychological 17,600 (Sensex) and 5,300 (Nifty) levels in the session. With the help of this around a percent rally, the benchmarks quadrupled the delight of closing in the positive terrain but also registered their fifth uninterrupted weekly rise. The bourses displayed listless performance in afternoon session as the frontline indices looked to consolidate the gains amassed in the previous sessions. Just when it appeared that the gauges are heading towards snapping the session around neutral line, hefty across the board buying emerged as sentiments got a boost following the rebound in European markets. Sentiments also got some support in the session from encouraging services PMI data which indicated that the sector grew at its fastest pace in six months during January as new business swelled, while the Composite Index which covers both the manufacturing and service sectors, posted the sharpest increase in activity in nine months. Earlier on Dalal Street, the benchmark got off to a quiet opening as sentiments were cautious following the mixed overnight closing on Wall Street and also as investors eagerly awaited the highly anticipated monthly US non-farm payrolls report for some near-term guidance. The aimless benchmarks appeared exhausted after the recent sharp upmoves and they gradually crawled only sideways in a tight band around the previous closing levels for most part of the day, lacking any significant upside triggers. But across the board buying in the dying moments of trade pulled the markets out of the range bound trade and helped the key gauges to settle in the positive terrain for the fourth straight session. On the BSE sectoral front, barring the Metal index which plunged over a percent, all other indices settled on a positive note. The high beta - Realty and defensive Healthcare pockets remained top gainers in the session with 2.15% and 1.69% gains respectively. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 173.11 points or 0.99% to settle at 17,604.96, while the S&P CNX Nifty surged by 55.95 points or 1.06% to close at 5,325.85.