Markets likely to open flat with a positive bias

Indian markets may open flat with a positive bias as cues from Asian markets are subdued and as US stocks witnessed selling pressure in overnight trade . Traders will keep an eye on the CPI data and Industrial Production figures which will be announced by the government today. The SGX Nifty is pointing that Nifty may open with minor gains of 16 points at 10,434.  

Asian stocks were mostly lower on Thursday amid Syria tensions. Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei 225 has dipped 16 points and China’s Shanghai Composite has declined 13 points, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has gained 68 points.  

Back home, stock markets ended Wednesday’s session on a flat note as investors sat on the sidelines in the absence of any market-moving news. After opening the session on a positive note, the indices slipped into sharp intra-day decline during the early part of the session. However, in the latter part of the session, the indices rebounded from day’s low to end with modest gains. Nifty settled with gains of 15 points at 10,417 and BSE Sensex rose 60 points to close at 33,940. The broader indices ended the session on a mixed note as Nifty Mid-cap added 0.01%, while Nifty Small-cap slipped 0.11%. Sector-wise, Nifty Metal emerged as the top gainer, while Nifty PSU Banks slumped by over 2% to emerge as a top loser.  

The US stocks turned lower on Wednesday amid geopolitical concerns after tweet from President Donald Trump warning Russia to ‘get ready’ for missiles being launched at Syria. On the US economic front, the consumer price index dipped 0.1% in March after rising by 0.2% in February, while the core CPI, which excludes food and energy, was up by 0.2%, with the uptick in core prices matching economists' forecast. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 219 points to close at 24,189, the S&P 500 slipped 15 points to finish at 2,642 and the Nasdaq Composite Index was down by 25 points to end at 7,069.   

The European stock markets ended in the negative terrain on Wednesday as President Donald Trump warned Russia about a possible missile strike on Syria. The DAX of Germany shed 0.83%, CAC 40 of France slipped 0.56% and the FTSE 100 of UK lost 0.13%.