Cautious start likely following negative cues from Asian peers

The Indian stock markets are likely to see a cautious opening as cues from the Asian peers are adverse on the back of the lingering concerns of trade war and OPEC meeting outcome. The Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange are currently trading with loss of 28 points at 10,705.  

It was a sea of red across Asia following losses seen on the Wall Street amid concerns about the trade dispute and tension about the outcome of OPEC meeting taking place in Vienna. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index led the losses in Asia, slipping 0.86%, followed by Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, which has lost 0.65%, and the Shanghai Composite, which has shed 0.18%.   

Back home, despite opening in the positive territory, the frontline indices ended Thursday’s session in the red terrain. Nifty ended below the 10,750-mark with loss of 31 points and BSE Sensex lost 115 points to end at 35,432. Selling pressure was intense in the broader market indices as Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap indices lost 0.57% and 1.07%, respectively. On the sectoral front, barring Nifty Fin Service, all other sectors ended in the red with the Nifty PSU Bank emerging as the top loser, followed by Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma. 

Thursday turned out to be a dismal day of trading for the US stocks with major indices suffering one of their worst sessions of the month and the Dow stretching its losing streak to the eighth consecutive session. The weakness on Wall Street was partly due to trade tensions between the US and its key trading partners such as China and the European Union, along with the ambiguity on the outcome of the OPEC meeting. The sentiment dampened further on the back of disappointing economic data, the Conference Board said its leading economic index rose 0.2% in May after climbing by 0.4% in April. while the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing slowed sharply to a reading of 19.9 in June from 34.4 in May. The Dow Jones Industrial Average buckled down 196 points to close at 24,462, the Nasdaq plunged 69 points to finish at 7,713 and the S&P 500 dropped 18 points to end the day at 2,750.  

The European markets closed solidly lower on Thursday. Automakers were under intense selling pressure following news that Daimler had cut its 2018 earnings forecast, blaming global trade tensions. Meanwhile, the Bank of England held the interest rates steady. The DAX of Germany sank 1.44%, the CAC 40 of France weakened by 1.05% and the FTSE 100 finished lower by 1.14%.