Choppy sessions are likely to mark trading this week-- truncated by two holidays on Monday and Friday -- but markets are expected to notch up some gains before ushering in the new year, analysts have said.
Dalal Street is expected to open a notch higher tomorrow on the back of strong Asian and European cues when markets open after four-day long holiday. Japan's Nikkei ended 1.33 per cent higher on Monday, while Shanghai closed up 1.51 per cent. In Europe, CAC 40 of Paris was trading with gains of 0.76 per cent.
However, brokers said bourses would be sluggish before the expiry of the futures contract on December 31.
"The market would see choppy trading towards Thursday as it stares at the expiry of derivatives contract. We expect no expansion in position in futures trade this week," Bonanza Portfolio Assistant Vice President Avinash Gupta said.
This week Nifty can touch 5,300 points, he added.
Ashika Stock Brokers Research Head Paras Bothra said, "The overall market sentiment is positive. The week will begin on a good note on the back of the firming trend in the global markets. As the week progresses some choppy movement might come in and there would be sideways movement.
Last week, the benchmark Sensex on the Bombay Stock Exchange ended with gains of 3.8 per cent at 17,360.15 points, the highest weekly gain in six weeks. The National Stock Exchange's Nifty index was up 3.82 per cent at 5,178.40.
The benchmark Sensex has gained nearly 80 per cent in 2009 and is on the way to chart out the best yearly gains since 1991.