A Flat trading day in making

Cues from the early trends on the SGX Nifty indicates that the Indian markets are in for a flat opening today. The SGX Nifty is currently trading two points down at 11,975 levels. On Wednesday evening, a host of measures were announced by the government to excite the bulls but the same old story was seen on the D-Street on Thursday, with markets opening gap-up and giving up its entire gains. It seems the bulls need a strong impetus to cross the Laxmanrekha of 12,000-12,040 levels on the Nifty. Until then the markets would continue to trade in a range of 11,800-12,040 like it has been doing for almost the last three weeks. However, stock-specific action is likely to continue on the D-Street.
 
Shrugging off weak cues from the Wall Street, the Asian markets were seen advancing on Friday as a media report said that China’s chief trade negotiator has invited his American counterparts to Beijing for a new round of face to face talks. China’s Shanghai Composite is trading higher by 0.65 per cent, Nikkei 225 was up by 0.61 per cent, and Hang Seng has gained 0.37 per cent.
 
Back home, the markets opened in green and traded in a narrow range for a major part of the session; however, in the last hour of the day, it slipped lower and closed near day’s low. at the closing bell, the Nifty lost 0.26 per cent to finish at 11,968 and the BSE Sensex dipped 0.19 per cent to close at 40,575. The selling pressure was seen in the broader indices as well, with the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap ended lower by 0.78 and 0.18 per cent, respectively. On the sectoral front, barring Nifty Media, Nifty Realty, and Nifty Financial Services, all other sectoral indices ended in the red. Nifty Media surged 4 per cent, courtesy 12 per cent gains in Zee Entertainment. On the flipside, Nifty Metal and Nifty Auto were top decliners.
 
In overnight developments, the US stocks ended Thursday's session with modest losses as some roadblocks still need to be removed before the phase one trade deal can be signed between the US and China. Meanwhile, some mixed economic data also contributed to a lack of conviction. The Conference Board’s Leading Economic index showed another decline for October and claims of joblessness remained unchanged. However, the regional manufacturing growth climbed high and existing home sales rose. All in all, the Dow lost 55 points, the S&P 500 was down by 5 points, and the NASDAQ reported a decline of 21 points. The European markets too ended with losses.