Markets closed on account of Mahavir Jayanti

Indian equity, forex, money and commodity markets will remain closed today on account of Mahavir Jayanti.

On Wednesday benchmark share indices ended the first session of the new financial year 2015-16 on a firm note led by a strong rally in FMCG, healthcare, realty and financials stocks with Sun Pharma contributing most to the gains ahead of record date set for the merger with Ranbaxy.

The 30-share Sensex gained 303 points to end at 28,260 and the 50-share Nifty soared 95 points to close at 8,586.

However, technology stocks emerged as the only underperformers in yesterday’s trade after HCL Technologies warned of adverse cross currency impact on the company's revenue and EBIT in Q3 March 2015 in pre-quarter earnings update.

Technical analysts suggest that the markets can move up higher from the current levels as they had corrected sharply in the last month. The Nifty, they say, can move up to 8,640 levels in the days ahead.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equities on Wednesday to the tune of Rs 210 crore while domestic institutions were net buyers in equities worth Rs 198 crore.

Further, markets will remain closed on 3 April on account of Good Friday and trading will resume on Monday, April 6.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian shares edged up in early trade on Thursday, but gains were tempered by weak U.S. private sector employment and manufacturing data that raised concerns ahead of Friday's key employment figures.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up about 0.2 percent in cautious trade, shrugging off modest overnight losses on Wall Street.

Japan's Nikkei stock average .N225 opened higher and was up 0.6 percent after skidding to a three-week low in the previous session.

U.S. stocks closed lower on Wednesday as investors weighed softness in economic data ahead of Friday's important jobs report.

Most U.S. markets will be closed on Friday for Easter holidays, with some European markets closed Friday through Monday, to reopen on Tuesday.