India’s Sensex is expected to gain on Monday as investor sentiment is likely to rise following the victory of Liberal Democratic Party in the general elections in Japan.
Markets players may be encouraged to note that LDP is projected to win majority in the Japanese parliament. Investors are hoping for LDP, led by Shinzo Abe, to announce stimulus measures that are much needed to revive the economic growth momentum of Japan.
On Monday, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was up 1.50 percent, or 145.94 points, to 9721. Among major gainers were Sharp Corp (6.69 percent), Tokyu Land Corp (5.39 percent) and JTEKT Corp (3.86 percent).
Hong Kong's Hang Seng marginally fell 0.09 percent, or 21.40 points, to 22554.58. Among major losers were Sands China Ltd (2.90 percent) and CNOOC Ltd (1.18 percent).
South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index fell 0.10 percent, or 2 points, to 1993.04. Shares of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd rose 0.53 percent and shares of LG Electronics Inc were down 0.28 percent.
On Thursday, the U.S. stocks fell as investor sentiment turned negative following uncertainty over the progress made by the Congress leaders in reaching an agreement to avert the looming fiscal cliff and prevent the scheduled rise in tax rates and spending cuts from plunging the economy into recession early next year.
Meanwhile, according to the data released Friday by the Department of Labor, Consumer Price Index, which measures the change in the price of goods and services from consumers' perspective, fell 0.3 percent in November, down from 0.1 percent rise in October. Also according to the data released Friday by the industrial production, which measures the change in the total inflation-adjusted value of output produced by manufacturers, mines, and utilities, rose 1.1 percent in November after a 0.4 percent decrease in October.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.27 percent, the S&P 500 Index was down 0.41 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.70 percent.
European markets were mixed on Friday as investors continued to be watchful amid revival of concerns of debt crisis affecting the euro zone. London's FTSE 100 was down 7.85 points, Germany's DAX 30 index rose 14.49 points and France's CAC 40 marginally gained 0.15 points.
On Friday, the Sensex rose 0.46 percent to 19317.25 at the close. The overall market breadth was negative with 1452 advances against 1475 declines. The BSE's Midcap Index gained 0.60 percent to 6999.05 and Smallcap Index rose 0.08 percent to 7353.72.
