Good times to start with-Realty stocks to remain in focus!

The Monday morning global cues are indicating good times at the start for the domestic bourses. At the time of writing, SGX Nifty was up by 16 points at 10,822.50. The realty stocks are expected to be in the limelight after the GST Council on Sunday slashed tax rates for under-construction flats to 5 per cent and affordable homes to 1 per cent, effective from April 1.   
  
The Asian stock markets were seen trading higher on Monday on the back of positive close on the Wall Street on Friday and on news about some positive developments out of the US trade talks with China, which increased the likelihood of a deal being completed. China’s Shanghai Composite index has jumped 1.70 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 has added 0.58 per cent and Hong Kong’s stock index Hang Seng has advanced 0.22 per cent. 
  
Back home, the last trading session of the week turned out to be choppy as bourses spent the entire trading session in an extremely narrow range and ended the day flat. The Nifty just managed to close above the neutral line at 10,792, while BSE Sensex dipped marginally to close at 35,871. The broader indices outperformed the key benchmark indices with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap gaining 0.41 per cent and 0.87 per cent, respectively. Among sectoral indices, majority of the sectoral indices ended in the green, with Nifty Metal and Nifty Realty leading the gainers, while Nifty Private Banks and Nifty Bank ending as top losers. 
  
The US stock indices advanced on Friday as meeting between the US President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu concluded with positive comments regarding a potential trade deal. Additionally, the Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin revealed that Chinese officials extended their trip to continue talks as the March deadline draws near. In addition, a report form media house reported that China has agreed to purchase up to $1.2 billion worth of US goods. In the end, the Dow Jones jumped 0.70 per cent, tech-heavy Nasdaq soared 0.91 per cent and the S&P 500 rose 0.64 per cent. 
  
The European markets edged up on the final trading session of the week. The DAX of Germany gained 0.30 per cent and the CAC 40 rose 0.38 per cent and the FTSE 100 of the UK ended with modest gains 0.16 per cent.