Markets may begin on a cautious note tracking negative global cues

Indian markets are expected to make a cautious start as cues from global peers are not encouraging. Going ahead, market participants will have their eyes glued on the movement of the rupee. The SGX Nifty suggests that Nifty could open lower by 22 points at 11,412.  
  
Asian markets have recovered from lower levels and are trading on a mixed note on Thursday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng has added 0.13 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite has risen 0.05 per cent, while Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index has weakened by 0.11 per cent.  
  
Back home, after two sessions of disappointment, bulls staged a smart comeback on Tuesday, with Nifty gaining about 0.7 per cent to close at 11,435 and BSE Sensex gaining by 0.55 per cent to finish at 37,852. After opening the session on a positive note, equity benchmark indices maintained their upward trajectory and ended the session near the day’s high as the wholesale price index (WPI) inflation eased to 5.09 per cent in the month of July. The broader market indices too ended in the green with the Nifty Mid-cap outperforming the frontline indices as it gained over one per cent, whereas Nifty Small-cap rising by 0.39 per cent. Talking about sectoral performance, all sectoral indices ended in the green with Nifty Pharma emerging as the top gainer mainly on the back of strong set of earnings from Sun Pharma.  
  
On the Wall Street, stocks witnessed sharp sell-off in early session, but regained some ground over the course of the trading session on Wednesday, but still closing in the negative terrain. Worries surrounding Turkey’s currency crisis and continued trade tensions weighed on investors' mind after the Turkish government announced an increase in tariffs on American cars, alcohol and cigarettes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 138 points to close at 25,162; the S&P 500 slid 22 points to finish at 2,818 and the Nasdaq Composite index underperformed its counterparts as it plummeted 97 points to end at 7,774. The US commerce department said retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5 per cent in July from the prior month, which was well ahead of economists’ forecast of an increase of 0.1 per cent.  
  
The European indices witnessed bloodbath on Wednesday as major indices ended lower by over a per cent amid Turkish President Recep Erdogan's retaliatory imposition of higher tariffs on US imports in response to President Donald Trump’s hiking of tariffs  on imports of  steel and aluminium from Turkey. On the data front, UK inflation rose 2.5 per cent in July, after holding steady at 2.4 per cent in the previous three months. This was the first jump in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since November and was in line with forecasts. The DAX of Germany plunged 1.61 per cent; CAC 40 of France lost 1.85 per cent and the UK’s FTSE 100 decreased by 1.52 per cent.