Sensex, Nifty Likely To Have A Cautious Opening

The benchmark indices are likely to open on a cautious note, post the one per cent gains on Thursday, going by cues from Asia and early indications from trading in SGX Nifty futures. Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a flat to negative start for the index in India. At 7:30 am, the Nifty futures were trading virtually unchanged around 14,915 level on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

Global stock prices rose to a 1 1/2-month high on Monday after data showing a surge in U.S. employment, while short-dated U.S. bonds came under pressure on worries the Fed Reserve may bump up interest rates sooner than it has indicated.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was almost flat, with China closed for Tomb-Sweeping day and Australia on Easter Monday.

The S&P 500 surged on Thursday to its first-ever close above the 4,000 mark, lifted by gains in Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet, as well as optimism about a recovering U.S. economy. The Dow Jones rose 0.52 per cent, while the S&P 500 gained 1.18 per cent and Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.76 per cent.

Meanwhile, oil prices edged lower in early Asian trade on Monday after OPEC+ agreed last week to gradually ease some of its production cuts between May and July. Brent crude futures for June fell 16 cents or 0.2 per cent to $64.70 a barrel by 2351 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for May was at $61.32 a barrel, down 13 cents or 0.2 per cent.

On Thursday, the BSE Sensex surged 520.68 points or 1.05 per cent to 50,029.83 and Nifty rose 176.70 points or 1.20 per cent to 14,867.40.