Market watch: Nifty's direction today

The Indian market rallied around 2% on Tuesday. The Sensex gained 305.07 points or 1.65% to close at 18,842.08. The Nifty rose 91.05 points or 1.62% and ended at 5,726.95.

The US markets reversed early losses to finish near session highs following positive comments from President Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner on the fiscal cliff issue. The CBOE volatility index ended below 16. GDP for the third quarter is expected to grow 2.8 percent while weekly jobless claims are seen declining to 390,000. Pending Home Sales Index may rise 1 percent for October. European markets pared losses to end flat on optimism that a deal on the US ‘fiscal cliff’ of tax rises and spending cuts could be reached. At 7: 42 am (IST), Asian markets were trading higher. China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.20% or 4.03 points at 1,977.56. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.56% or 121.44 points at 21,830.42. Japan's Nikkei was up 0.57% or 52.89 points at 9,361.24. Singapore's Straits Times added 0.49% or 14.81 points at 3,026.58. South Korea's Seoul Composite was up 0.87% or 16.62 points at 1,929.40. Taiwan's Taiwan Weighted advanced 0.85% or 62.97 points at 7,497.90.