At 7:30 am, the Nifty futures were trading higher by 0.9 per cent on the Singapore Stock Exchange
The stock markets are likely to open on a strong footing, extending the gains of the past eight trading sessions, going by early indications from SGX Nifty futures trading. Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India, with a 103-points gain. At 7:30 am, the Nifty futures were trading at 14,119, higher by 103 points or 0.9 per cent on the Singapore Stock Exchange.
Asian markets hit pause on Monday as reports of a possible tightening in coronavirus emergency rules for Tokyo pulled Japanese stocks off 30-year highs, while also lifting the safe-haven yen.
Japan's Nikkei shed its early gains to fall 1.1 per cent, when Fuji TV reported the government was considering a state of emergency for capital Tokyo and three surrounding prefectures. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1 per cent, a whisker from a record high.
US markets had closed at record highs on Thursday; The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 196.92 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 30,606.48, the S&P 500 gained 24.03 points, or 0.64 per cent, to 3,756.07 and the Nasdaq Composite added 18.28 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 12,888.28.
Meanwhile, oil prices edged lower on Monday, the first day of 2021 trading, ahead of a meeting of OPEC and allied producers to discuss output levels for February with fears for first-half demand seeping into the market as the coronavirus pandemic lingers.
Brent crude for March was at $51.76 a barrel, down 4 cents or 0.08 per cent, by 0038 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for February fell 9 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $48.43 a barrel.
The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes closed at record highs on Friday i.e. the first session of 2021; the Sensex ended 118 points higher to close at an all-time high of 47,868.98 and Nifty 50 index climbed 37 points to close at record high of 14,018.50.
