Market watch: Cues that will set Nifty's trend

The Indian market closed flat on Friday after recouping losses in late trade. The Nifty fell just 1.15 points to close at 5,626.60. The Sensex declined 10.77 points to end at 18,506.57. However, the week was positive as the benchmark indices gained 1 percent. The US markets closed more than 1 percent higher in a holiday-shortened session, led by strength in big-cap tech stocks. Volume was thin following the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. Major indices had their best week in over five months. For the week, the Dow rose 3.3 percent, the S&P climbed 3.6 percent and the Nasdaq jumped 4 percent. The CBOE volatility index fell to near 15. European markets had their best week so far this year, led by strong German business confidence data and growing expectations Greece will receive more aid. A big task lies ahead for the Euro zone finance ministers as they meet in Brussels today and try to make a deal for Greece. So far their track record has not been great. EU finance ministers will meet in Brussels to discuss a deal for Greece with talks over aid to Athens breaking down last week. On Friday, EU leaders failed to reach and agreement on their budget for the next seven years. So, question now is can the Troika bridge their differences and release the next tranche of cash for Greece today or will it end is tears again. France's finance minister says yes they can do it, but sticking points do remain key among a potential write down of Greece's sovereign debt which the IMF has maintained is vital for Athens to move forward. At 7: 41 am (IST), Asian markets were trading mixed. China's Shanghai Composite was down 0.32% or 6.44 points at 2,020.95. Hong Kong's Hang Seng was flat at 21,895.04. Japan's Nikkei gained 0.61% or 57.60 points at 9,424.30. Singapore's Straits Times rose 0.44% or 13.12 points at 3,002.40. South Korea's Seoul Composite was down 0.27% or 5.07 points at 1,906.26. Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted added 0.74% or 54.04 points at 7,380.05.