A flat opening likely amid mixed global cues

Indian markets are likely to open flat tracking mixed cues prevailing amongst Asian peers and a mixed close on the Wall Street overnight ahead of the monetary policy announcement. At the time of writing, the SGX Nifty was trading at 11,572, down by 4 points.

Asian markets lacked clear direction on Wednesday on the back of conflicting reports regarding the progress of the US-China trade talks. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index has slipped 0.41 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite index has lost 0.22 per cent, while the Japanese stock market Nikkei is hovering around neutral line.

Back home, it was seventh straight day of gains for the frontline indices with Nifty closing above the 11,500 mark and the BSE Sensex closing above the 38,350 level. The indices made a firm start, but soon they gave up most of their gains and hovered near the neutral line until afternoon, after which indices gained momentum leading to an extension of the rally. The broader indices ended with smart gains, with Nifty Midcap and Small-cap rising 0.69 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively. Among sectoral indices, barring Nifty Auto and Nifty Metal, all other indices ended in the green, with Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty IT leading the gainers.  

The US equity indices started off Tuesday’s session on a jubilant note, however, as the day progressed, the indices erased most of the early gains as caution appeared to set in ahead of monetary policy decision from the Federal Reserve. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 0.10 per cent, the Nasdaq Composite index added 0.12 per cent and S&P 500 index closed almost unchanged.  

The European markets ended in the positive terrain on Tuesday amid some upbeat economic data in the region. Germany’s investor confidence rose sharply in March. The FTSE 100 of the UK advanced 0.34 per cent, the DAX of Germany climbed 1.13 per cent and the CAC 40 gained 0.24 per cent.