India’s Sensex is expected to rise Tuesday as investor confidence is anticipated to be lifted following encouraging economic indicator from the US.
According to data released Monday, the National Association of Realtors home sales report that measures the change in the annualized number of existing residential buildings sold during the previous month rose to 4.79 million units in October, up from 4.69 million units in September. There were some negative effects from Hurricane Sandy with sales in the Northeast declining while all other regions saw gains.
On Tuesday, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.10 percent, or 8.88 points, to 9162.08. Among major gainers were Japan Tobacco Inc (6.54 percent), Nikon Inc (4.68 percent) and Canon Inc (4.45 percent).
Also, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.90 percent, or 192.20 points, to 21454.26. Among major gainers were COSCO Pacific Ltd (5.92 percent) and Sino Land Co Ltd (2.14 percent).
On Monday, the US stocks advanced as investor sentiment turned positive amid hopes that President Barack Obama and the Congressional leaders are making advances in reaching conciliation to avert the fiscal cliff.
“While the details have yet to be discussed, both sides were reported to have made concessions that should make it easier to reach a deal to prevent the $500bn of tax hikes and spending cuts from taking place at the start of next year. What’s more, there seems to have been an agreement to undertake a more substantial overhauling of the tax code and entitlement spending programmes next year in order to place America on a sounder fiscal path over the medium-term. The uncertainty will persist for a while, but we continue to expect the US to avoid the full impact of the fiscal cliff,” Capital Economics said in a note.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.65 percent, the S&P 500 Index was up 1.99 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 2.21 percent.
European markets also rose Monday following global cues. London's FTSE 100 was up 59.91 points, Germany's DAX 30 index rose 80.42 points and France's CAC 40 gained 57.18 points.
However, the news from the Middle East continues to be dismal with the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas contributing to the recent rise of oil prices and the weakness of stocks. Investors worry that the avoidance of a full scale ground war in Gaza is still some way off.
