BJP's Karnataka fiasco likely to weigh down the markets

As we step into the fresh week, chances are Indian markets may see flat opening despite encouraging cues from Asian peers. This would be mainly due to the setback suffered by the BJP in Karnataka as it failed to muster the requisite majority. The trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty may open with a modest gain of 17 points at 10,632.  

Asian stocks have mostly kicked off the fresh week with gains, as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng led the way with gains of 1.17%, followed by Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Shanghai Composite which have gained 0.47% and 0.41%, respectively.   

Back home, Friday’s trading session turned out to be a disappointing day of trade for Indian benchmark indices as they extended their southward journey for the fourth straight session to end below their crucial levels of 35,000 ( Sensex)  and 10,600 ( Nifty) . The broader market indices encountered widespread selling, with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap tumbling 1.37% and 2.33%, respectively. As for sectoral performance, barring Nifty FMCG, all other sectors ended in the red, with Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma plunging over 2%.  

The US stock markets witnessed choppy sessions on Friday ending on a mixed note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average inched up 1 point to 24,715, while the Nasdaq slipped 28 points to finish at 7,354 and the S&P 500 lost 7 points to close at 2,713. The sessions were choppy were due to the hesitation about the outcome of the second round of trade talks between the the US and China.  

The European shares closed with modest losses on Friday, as trader’s exercised caution ahead of the weekend. The DAX of Germany dipped 0.28%, the CAC 40 of France fell 0.13% and the FTSE 100 of UK declined 0.12%.