Analysts awaited official data on inflation and industrial production due this week
Domestic stock markets are likely to start Tuesday's session on a positive note following two days of losses amid gains in Asian peers. The Singapore Exchange (SGX) Nifty futures - an early indicator of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty index in India - climbed as much as 58.5 points to touch 12,100.00 on the upside ahead of the opening of Indian markets. At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty futures traded 57.50 points higher at 12,099.00.
Concerns about the coronavirus epidemic that has claimed more than 1,000 lives in China offset an uptick in equities.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was last up 0.95 per cent while Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark was down 0.60 per cent. Analysts say the prospect of the coronavirus outbreak threatening world economic growth may weigh on the domestic markets in the near term.
US stocks hit a record peak overnight, as investors assessed how quickly China's factories could return to work as the coronavirus continues to spread and deaths mount.
The World Bank is offering technical assistance to China to help battle the coronavirus epidemic but no new loans, the development lender's president, David Malpass, said on Monday.
Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) took a lead over its closest rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in very early leads as counting began for the Delhi election on Tuesday.
The S&P BSE Sensex index had on Monday ended 162.23 points - or 0.39 per cent - lower at 40,979.62 and the broader NSE Nifty benchmark settled at 12,031.50, down 66.85 points - or 0.55 per cent - from the previous close.
Analysts awaited official data on consumer inflation and industrial production due on Wednesday for more clarity on the state of the economy.
Consumer inflation - or the rate of increase in consumer prices - is expected at 7.40 per cent in January, a touch above December's 7.35 per cent and the highest since May 2014, according to a poll of more than 40 economists conducted by news agency Reuters.
Last week, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) held the key lending rates steady in a second straight bi-monthly review while maintaining an "accommodative" stance citing concerns on inflation. The RBI tracks consumer inflation primarily while formulating its monetary policy.
