Flat opening likely following negative cues from Asian peers

The Indian benchmark indices are expected to open on a flat note as cues from Asian peers are negative. At the time of writing, SGX Nifty was trading up by 19 points at the 11,962 level. The markets are likely to continue their range-bound movement, however, the Nifty sustaining above the 11,920 level will provide impetus to the bulls. Or else, the major trigger point is the Union Budget, which will provide the much-needed direction to the markets. The key announcement during the day will be the Nikkei Services PMI for the month of June.   

Asian markets are seen declining on Wednesday as investors' sentiments took a hit as trade tensions increased between the US and Europe. The Japanese stock index Nikkei 225 has lost 0.60 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has shed 0.17 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite has dropped 0.87 per cent.

Back home, the key equity benchmark indices extended their upmove for the second straight session on Tuesday. The indices opened the session with an uptick, but soon after opening, the indices slipped into the red. Thereafter, the indices traded with a negative bias in the first half of the trading session. In the second half, the bulls staged a smart recovery from the lower levels and ended the session in the green. Nifty ended the day with a gain of 0.38 per cent at 11,910 and BSE Sensex rose 0.33 per cent to finish at 39,816. The broader market indices ended on a mixed note, with Nifty Midcap adding 0.37 per cent, while Nifty Smallcap dipping 0.08 per cent. Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Realty and Nifty Pharma were top losers, while Nifty IT and Nifty Metal were top gainers.

On the Wall Street, the stocks showed a lack of clear direction on Tuesday, but in a late rush, the stocks ended the day in the green with the S&P 500 index hitting a fresh record high as it closed higher by 0.3 per cent, while the Dow and Nasdaq indices lifted slightly, up by 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent, respectively. The big news for the day was the Trump administration's threat to slap further tariffs on more European goods as a part of an ongoing dispute over aircraft subsidies.  

The European markets ended Tuesday’s session in the positive terrain. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.04 per cent and 0.16 per cent and UK’s FTSE 100 jumped 0.82 per cent.