Sensex, Nifty Set To Have A Firm Opening

The stock markets are likely to open in the green, in line with positive global cues, ahead of the RBI Monetary policy announcement. Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India, with a 43-point gain. At 7:30 am, the Nifty futures were trading at 13,246, higher by 43 points or 0.37 per cent on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

The Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das is expected to announce the decision of the Monetary policy committee at 10 am.

Investors in Asia geared up for modest stock gains on Friday as US legislators wrangled over a fiscal stimulus and negotiations over a Brexit trade deal continued.

MSCI's gauge of stocks across the world shed 0.02 per cent. Australia's S&P ASX 200 rose 0.26 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 futures added 0.13 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures were flat.

The Nasdaq Composite Index closed at a record high on Thursday, lifted by Tesla Inc, while the S&P 500 fell after a report indicated that Pfizer Inc had slashed the target for the rollout of its COVID-19 vaccine.

The Dow Jones rose 0.29 per cent and Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.23 per cent. The S&P 500, however, lost 0.06 per cent.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday that the India's economy is gradually recovering after being severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The economy recovered faster than expected in the September quarter as a pick-up in manufacturing helped GDP clock a lower contraction of 7.5 per cent and held out hopes for further improvement.

On the commodities front, oil prices rose on Friday, heading for the fifth week of gains after major producers agreed to continue to restrain production to cope with coronavirus-hit demand but the compromise fell short of expectations.

Brent was up 19 cents, or 0.4 per cent, at $48.89 a barrel by 0102 GMT after gaining around 1 per cent on Thursday. West Texas Intermediate had risen 18 cents or 0.4 per cent at $45.82 a barrel.

The markets had closed with mild gains on Thursday; the BSE Sensex rose 14.61 points to 44,632.65 and the Nifty50 rose 20.10 points to 13,133.90.