Investors will take cues from global factors, stock-specific developments, and oil and rupee price movement for market direction today.
According to a Business Standard report, IT outsourcing contracts of more than $1 billion currently executed by Indian companies are at risk of termination because Boeing has halted the production of its flagship Boeing 737 Max jets with effect from January. As such, tech stocks will react to the report today..
Shares of credit rating agencies CARE and ICRA will also be in focus today after Sebi slapped Rs 25 lakh penalty on the two firms for their failure to carry out proper due diligence when assigning credit ratings to IL&FS.
In other news, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will hold a review meeting with CEOs of public sector banks tomorrow.
Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India will conduct one more simultaneous bond purchase and sale in the secondary markets, which has come to be known as India’s version of operation twist. The RBI said it will purchase 10-year bonds worth Rs 10,000 crore, while simultaneously selling four bonds maturing in 2020 for up to the same amount on Monday.
Globally, technology shares propelled Wall Street indexes to fresh record highs. Optimism over US-China trade relations also boosted investor sentiment after Beijing said that it was in close contact with Washington about an initial trade agreement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.37 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.5 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.78 per cent.
Asian stocks opened mixed on Friday. Japan opened to modest gains, Australian ASX 200 was little changed and South Korea's Kospi Index lost 0.8 per cent in early trading.
In commodities, oil prices climbed off three-month high level hit on Thursday, and Brent crude futures was trading at $66.88 a barrel, up 0.18 per cent.
Indian equity markets declined for the third straight session on Thursday. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex slipped 297 points to 41,164, and the broader Nifty50 settled 88 points lower at 12,127-mark.
 "Market Ahead, December 27: All you need to know before the Opening Bell")
