Cautious start likely amid mixed cues from Asian peers

Indian markets are most likely to start the session on a watchful note as the cues from the Asian peers are mixed and the street will minutely track the movement of the Indian rupee and crude oil. The SGX Nifty is trading higher by 55 points at 11,013, indicating a positive start.  
  
Asian equity markets struggled for direction on Wednesday despite record closing by Dow Jones in overnight trade. Hong Kong market has gained 0.22 per cent, while the Japanese market Nikkei 225 Index has dipped 0.31 per cent.  Markets in China are closed for a public holiday.  
  
Back home, benchmark indices snapped their three-day losing streak and ended the Monday’s session on a positive note with frontline indices reclaiming their crucial 11,000 (Nifty) and 36,500 (BSE Sensex) levels. After a tepid start, the key indices witnessed bearish movement for most part of the day; however, sentiment improved after the Centre took control of the debt-ridden IL&FS and announced encouraging macroeconomic data, which helped the indices to reclaim their crucial levels. Buying was broad-based as broader indices ended in the green with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap indices surging 0.76 and 0.26 per cent, respectively. Among the sectoral indices, barring Nifty Realty, all other indices ended with gains. Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty IT were the top gainers.  
  
In the US, major averages ended Tuesday’s session on the opposite sides of the neutral line, with the Dow Jones reaching a new record closing high. The mixed close on the Wall Street was seen after the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave stated that the inflation remained low due to the Fed managing expectations, despite low unemployment. However, he said that the Fed would “act with authority” if inflation should materially differ from its stated objective of 2 per cent. In other news, Amazon upped its minimum wage to $15/hour and the US auto stocks were hit after some of the major automakers reported disappointing sales numbers. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 123 points to close at 26,774, while the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 38 points to finish at 7,999, and the S&P 500 Index closed almost unchanged at 2,923.  
  
On a day when the Indian financial markets were closed for holiday, the European stocks came under severe pressure as number of factors contributed to dent investors sentiments, ranging from political uncertainty in Italy to worries over the trade tensions between the US and China. The DAX of Germany weakened 0.42 per cent; the CAC 40 of France decreased 0.71 per cent and the UK’s FTSE 100 finished lower by 0.28 per cent.