Dull start for the markets!

In early action, SGX Nifty is seen hovering around the neutral line, indicating that Indian markets may open on a flat note on Thursday. However, we expect that the stock specific action would continue and in the latter part of the day, we might witness some wild swings on account of weekly expiry. SGX Nifty is trading 17 points lower at 9,150 level. In the earnings section, key stock such as Britannia and Bharti Infratel are scheduled to announce their March quarterly results today. Apart from this, the market participants would also track meeting of Economic Advisory Council, which begins today to brainstorm the public spending needed to revive the economy amid intensifying demands for a fiscal stimulus.

Asian markets were trading with modest gains on Thursday, following strong close overnight on Wall Street as the oil prices rebounded and an additional $484 billion package was approved by Senate to help small businesses, hospitals and expand testing. Japan’s Nikkei has added 0.69 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite is trading flat.  

Defying weak global cues, Indian markets opened Wednesday’s session with gains, all thanks to the jump in the price of index heavyweight-Reliance Industries after the social media giant-Facebook announced that it had picked up 9.9 per cent stake in Reliance Jio. However, the opening gains started to fade away in the initial hour of the trade but thereafter, it was complete dominance by the bulls. At the closing bell, Nifty gained 2.29 per cent to close at 9,187 and BSE Sensex rose 2.42 per cent to end at 31,380. The broader markets too gained traction with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap surging by 0.75 and 0.52 per cent, respectively. Nifty Realty, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Pharma ended with modest losses. On the other hand, Nifty Media, Nifty Auto and Nifty FMCG were the major advancers.  

US markets snapped its two-day losing streak on Wednesday as crude oil staged a dramatic comeback and Senate approved $484 billion aid package to counteract the damage from Coronavirus shutdown. The tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 2.8 per cent, followed by S&P 500 and Dow, which gained 2.3 and 2 per cent, respectively. European markets closed higher on Wednesday on the back of a rebound in crude oil prices as well as amid reports of countries such as Spain and Italy easing lockdown restrictions.