Political developments in the US are likely to affect investor sentiment today. The US House of Representatives impeached Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress on Wednesday, marking only the third time in US history that lawmakers invoked the ultimate constitutional sanction of a president.
Back home, shares of Tata Group are likely to remain in focus as National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday reinstated Cyrus Mistry as the executive chairman of the Tata group. The two-judge Bench declared the October 2016 resolution passed by the Tata Sons board to remove Mistry, a scion of Shapoorji Pallonji family, from his post and all consequential actions taken by Tata Group companies to remove him as director “illegal’’.
Additionally, Bank of Baroda shares may also trade actively after RBI assessment found that the lender underreported bad loans by Rs 5,250 crore in FY19.
In a first, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council on Wednesday resorted to voting to decide an issue. The controversial issue of the GST rate for lotteries was decided on the basis of voting, with the Council fixing a uniform tax rate of 28 per cent on both state and private lotteries with effect from March 1, 2020.
Yesterday, the S&P BSE Sensex on Wednesday ended 206 points or 0.50 per cent higher at 41,559 while NSE's Nifty50 index settled at 12,222, up 57 points or 0.47 per cent.
In the global markets, Asian shares edged higher on Thursday amid growing confidence in the global outlook following improving economic indicators and a preliminary trade deal between the United States and China.
In the overnight trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 30.17 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 28,297.33, the S&P 500 gained 3.36 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 3,195.88 and the Nasdaq Composite added 22.44 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 8,845.79.
 "Market Ahead, December 19: Top factors that could guide markets today")
