)
Stock markets are likely to rebound and open higher on Friday, amid firm global cues, after sharp losses in the previous two sessions.
Asian markets were trading higher on Friday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street after the Dow ended above 16.000 for the first time. Japan's Nikkei emerged as the top gainer in the region following weakness in the yen. The Nikkei was up 1.4%. Among other indices in the region, Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng were up 0.2-0.6% each. Straits Times was trading flat with negative bias.
At 8:25AM Indian Standard Time the SGX Nifty was up 9 points at 6,032.
The Dow Jones and S&P 500 rebounded on Thursday after losses in the previous three sessions on the back of encouraging economic data and inflation remaining below the US Fed's estimate. The number of US citizens applying for new claims for unemployment benefits was down more than expected while inflation remained tamed at 1% compared with the US Fed's estimate of 2%.
The Dow Jones Industrial average ended up 109 points, or 0.7%, to end at 16,009.99. The
Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 14 points, or 0.8% at 1,795.85. The tech laden
Nasdaq Composite Index ended up 48 points or 1.2% at 3,969.16.
Key European shares ended lower on Thursday weighed down by weak economic data from China and the US Fed minutes indicating winding down its monetary stimulus measures. The CAC-40 ended down 14 points lower at 4,253.90, the DAX lost 6 points to end at 9,196.08, while the FTSE-100 ended nearly unchanged at 6,681.33.
STOCKS TO WATCH
ONGC will be in focus after its overseas arm ONGC Videsh signed a memorandum of understanding PetroVietnam (PVN) to promote the joint cooperation in hydrocarbon sector in Vietnam, India and other countries. This comes at a time when Vietnam is offering India fresh oil and natural gas blocks in the South China Sea. The MoU was signed in presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Secretary General of Communist Party of Vietnam.
Torrent Pharma and Elder Pharma will see some action on reports that Torrent Pharma is in talks to acquire Elder Pharma's domestic business.
Telecom stocks will see some action as the Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) on telecom, headed by Finance minister P Chidambaram, scheduled to meet today, is likely to discuss the next course of action of the upcoming spectrum auction that is expected next year.
Cairn India may see some action on reports that the company is likely to announce share buyback on November 26.
