Sensex, Nifty Seen Opening On Flat Note

Indian shares look set to open on a subdued note Monday, tracking weakness in other Asian markets.

Earnings will take center stage this week, with more than 2,000 companies slated to post their quarterly numbers.

On the economic front, investors await readings on consumer inflation and factory activity for clues to economic recovery.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty posted modest gains during the special hour-long “Muhurat” trade session on Thursday amid optimism over economic recovery after the Centre as well as several states cut excise duty on petrol and diesel.

The 30-share S&P BSE Sensex rose 295.70 points, or 0.49 percent, to close at 60,067.62, while the broader NSE Nifty index ended up 87.60 points, or 0.49 percent, at 17,916.80.

The NSE and BSE were closed Friday on the occasion of ‘Diwali Balipratipada’.

Asian markets traded mostly lower this morning after Chinese trade data for October released over the weekend proved to be a mixed bag. While exports topped forecasts, a miss on imports added to evidence of a slowing in domestic demand.

The dollar made a steady start to the week as the U.S. congress passed a long-delayed U.S. $1 trillion infrastructure bill and investors awaited a reading on U.S. inflation this week for further clues on the outlook for rates.

Gold extended a rally to hit a two-month high while oil prices rose after Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil producer Aramco raised the official selling price for its crude.

U.S. stocks pushed further into record highs on Friday as the latest jobs data surprised on the upside.

U.S. non-farm payroll employment surged up by 531,000 jobs in October while the unemployment rate fell to 4.6 percent from 4.8 percent in September, hitting its lowest level since March of 2020, data showed.

The Dow gained 0.6 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.4 percent.

European markets ended Friday’s session higher as investors reacted to promising news on Pfizer’s Covid-19 pill and the upbeat U.S. jobs report.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index ended flat with a positive bias. The German DAX inched up 0.2 percent, France’s CAC 40 index climbed 0.8 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3 percent.