Flat start for indices
After registering a winning streak for four consecutive trading sessions, the big question on D-street is will markets rally on Thursday? Going by the early indication of SGX Nifty, that is trading with a marginal gain of 5 points at 11,491 levels, suggests that we are in for a flat to positive opening and there are bright chances that bulls may continue their upward march as both, FPIs and DIIs were net buyers in the last sessions. Additionally, Nifty has continued its higher high-low formation and furthermore, the cues from Asian markets are positive. But, on the other hand, market breadth is bit of a concern and the ace of spades, Bank Nifty, is a very important index for the overall market. It has had the potential to single-handedly take the market up or down. In recent times, we have witnessed it under-performing the markets and it has not been able to move above its important long-term moving average i.e. 200-DMA. On the earnings front, some of the prominent names such as ZEEL, PVR, L&T Infotech, TVS Motor and South Indian Bank will declare their September 2019 quarter results today.
On the Asian side, markets are trading in positive terrain with some of the markets recovering from a weak start after a negative close overnight on Wall Street. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong is up by 0.84 per cent, in spite of fresh political unrest in the city, while Japan's Nikkei 225 and China's Shanghai Composite were up by 0.17 and 0.03 per cent, respectively.
Back home, the key benchmark indices extended their rally for fourth straight day on Wednesday even though the market breadth tilted in favour of sellers. Markets opened the session on a positive note and extended gains, however, thereafter bouts of volatility were seen and the index pared its gains to trade flat. In the last hour of the trade buying emerged and pushed the markets higher. In the end, Nifty added 0.31 per cent and BSE Sensex rose 0.24 per cent. In the broader markets, Nifty Midcap failed to catch up and ended with modest losses, while Nifty Smallcap closed in green. On the sectoral front, Nifty Realty emerged as top gainer followed by Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma, whereas, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Metal were top losers.
In overnight development, US stocks dipped on Wednesday as the economic news was not too encouraging. Retail sales slipped 0.3 per cent in the month of September, where a much stronger figure had been anticipated. In addition, market participants on Wall Street were seen exercising some caution as the relation with China could get bitter, specifically if tensions with Hong Kong persist and the US starts to take side in this matter. Overall, the Dow ended lower by 22 points, S&P 500 Index dropped 6 points and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 25 points. Markets in Europe on Wednesday ended on a mixed note as Brexit negotiations continued well into the night without an agreement.