Pre-Market: Markets set to open higher : 20/05/2014

Pre-Market: Markets set to open higher
20/05/2014 08:36
The domestic bourses will most likely witness a positive opening today given the decidedly north course of movement the stocks are taking post Modi’s win. Modi who is known for his no-nonsense developmental approach will soon be swearing in as the Prime Minister of India. The markets are more positive as the government will not have to suffer from the constraints of coalition and policy paralysis will no longer remain a concern. Nevertheless, there is a scope for profit booking during the day. Looking ahead, Modi will be formally sworn in as the Prime Minister on 24th May 2014. With preparations for government formation gaining momentum, speculation is rife that Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley will become finance minister in the Modi cabinet as expected earlier.

All the major Asian averages are trading in the positive territory mirroring the optimism on the Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 is up by 0.67%, the Hang Seng is up 0.87% after witnessing a fall in the lat trading session. China’s Shanghai Composite is trading 0.40% higher. Japan’s All Industry activity index is slated to be released today.

Post a hustle with bears, the Wall Street managed to end mostly higher with Tech stocks pushing up the broader indices. The gains on the day extended the upward move seen late last Friday, further offsetting the sharp pullback seen in the middle of last week. The major averages all closed higher, although the tech-heavy NASDAQ outperformed its counterparts. The NASDAQ jumped 35.23 points or 0.9 percent to 4,125.81, while the Dow edged up 20.55 points or 0.1 percent to 16,511.86 and the S&P 500 rose 7.22 points or 0.4 percent to 1,885.08. Nonetheless, trading activity remained light throughout the session, as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves amid a lack of major U.S. economic data. The economic calendar remains light throughout much of the week; although reports on new and existing home sales and weekly jobless claims are likely to attract some attention on Thursday and Friday.