Indices may see strong opening

SGX Nifty:

Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could rise 112 points at the opening bell.

Global markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed Thursday as investors digested the U.S. Federal Reserve's indications that its run of ultra-easy monetary policy since the start of the pandemic is coming to a close.

Japan's exports growth sped up in November, government data showed on Thursday. Exports rose 20.5% in November from a year earlier, the ninth straight month of increase. It followed a 9.4% gain in the previous month.

Wall Street ended sharply higher on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve said it would end its pandemic-era bond purchases in March as it exits from policies enacted at the start of the health crisis.

The Fed announced on Wednesday that it would wind down its asset purchases, a process known as tapering, at a faster pace amid a continued rise in inflation. The Fed will be buying $60 billion per month of bonds starting in January, down from December's rate of $90 million, and said that it will likely continue that trajectory in the months ahead.

This sets the stage for a dramatic policy shift that will clear the way for a first interest rate hike next year. The central bank signaled on Wednesday that its members see three hikes in 2022.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said at a new conference on Wednesday afternoon that the labor market is not fully recovered, pointed to a sluggish rebound in labor force participation, but said it was still appropriate to roll back some of the Fed's pandemic-era policies.

Domestic markets:

Back home, the benchmark indices extended losses for the fourth trading session on Wednesday. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 329.06 points or 0.57% at 57,788.03. The Nifty 50 index lost 103.50 points or 0.60% at 17,221.40.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,407.04 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,553.01 crore in the Indian equity market on 15 December, provisional data showed.

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