Morning Bell !!!.......key Indian stock indices have taken a breather after the previous day's strong advance

Indian Markets

The key Indian stock indices have taken a breather after the previous day's strong advance with the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty barely moving in early morning trade. Both the benchmarks seem to be struggling for direction. The Sensex stalled its rally today and fell marginally as investors opted to book profits.

The index, which gained 360 points on Thursday on global cues, was down 26.5 points at 16,456.94. The Nifty was down 7 points at 4,929.50.

After opening on a very positive note on Thursday, markets slid lower. They nevertheless managed to close with healthy gains for the day. While the BSE Sensex finally closed 359.99pts or 2.23% higher at 16,483.45, the Nifty gained 104.8pts or 2.17% to close at 4,936.85.

US Markets

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Thursday, after a big rally on Wednesday, as investors were reluctant to push prices higher amid ongoing worries about Europe.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 26 points, or 0.21%, to 12,020. The S&P 500 fell 2 points, or 0.2% to 1,244. But the Nasdaq composite added 6 points, or 0.2%, to end at 2,626.

Asian Markets

Today, barring Nikkei, which is trading marginally higher by 0.2%, all the other Asian indices are trading in the red with Hang Seng & Shanghai trading lower by 0.3% & 1% respectively. Strait Times, Kospi & Taiwan are trading lower by 0.6%, 0.3% & 0.7% respectively.

Currencies & Commodities

The Metal prices ended sharply higher with Aluminium & Copper rising 6.2% & 5.3% respectively, while Zinc & Nickel ended higher by 4.9% & 1.2% respectively. The dollar slumped against the euro and British pound, but rose versus the Japanese yen. Oil for January delivery slipped 13 cents to $100.06 a barrel. Gold futures for December delivery fell $9.10 to $1,749 an ounce.

Outlook for Today

Today, the Indian markets could open marginally lower and remain range-bound until they get further cues from the European markets. Among the sectoral indices, Banks, Metals & FMCG are expected to outperform while IT could underperform.

Source- Rh morning market, hdfcsec