Gap-down opening likely amid negative cues from Asian markets

The Indian markets were looking for some positive vibes after the drastic fall witnessed over the last couple of weeks or so. The rain god did seem to answer the prayers of the bull camp as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) stated that the monsoon rains in the coming weeks are likely to make up for the shortfall in the first two months of the season that began in June. Also, beating all expectations, the GST collection surpassed Rs 1 lakh crore mark in July to Rs 1.02 lakh crore. However, the news that the US President Donald Trump will impose fresh tariffs on China will throw cold water on the hopes of the bulls. The domestic markets are likely to open with a gap-down as cues from the global markets have shattered bulls' hopes. The SGX Nifty is indicating a decline of about 76 points at the opening bell. The key earnings to be announced today are Bata, SBI, HDFC, Exide, BEML, Nestle and ITC

The Asian markets are in the red in the final trading session of the week due to overnight losses in the US stocks. The Japanese stock index Nikkei 225 has plunged 2.34 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has tumbled 2.11 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite index has fallen 1.50 per cent.

Back home, key benchmark indices were greeted by bears on the first trading session of August month and there was no respite for the markets. In fact, as the day progressed, the fall only got intensified. However, a sharp bounce-back in the last leg of trading helped the indices to curb the losses. The Nifty closed below the crucial psychological mark of 11,000, down by 1.24 per cent, and the BSE Sensex lost 1.23 per cent to end at 37,018. The broader market indices ended in the red with Nifty Midcap and Smallcap losing 1.05 per cent and 1.20 per cent, respectively. On the sectoral front, Nifty Auto was the lone gainer while Nifty Metal and Nifty Media were the top losers. The India VIX has jumped 7 per cent to 14.55 level.

The US markets were no less than a surprise thriller movie. In the initial part of the Thursday's trading session, markets moved higher but then came the twist. In the early afternoon, US President Donald Trump announced that he would impose 10 per cent tariff on the remaining $300 billion of goods and products coming from China to the US, effective September 1. This triggered a sudden panic in the US markets and the day’s gains were erased in no time and the indices started moving lower. In the end, Dow slumped 1.1 per cent, S&P 500 dropped 0.9 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.8 per cent.

The European markets recovered from the early jolt and finished mixed on Thursday amid some upbeat earnings reports helping the financial stocks. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.53 per cent and 0.70 per cent, respectively, while UK’s FTSE 100 closed with a minor cut.