Markets likely to open in the red amid negative cues from Asian peers

Selling pressure is likely to continue in the Indian markets following negative cues from Asian peers and the ghost of strong dollar and hardening oil price will continue to spook the markets. The SGX Nifty is trading with a loss of 129 points at 10,754 levels, indicating terrible start to the day. In other development, the government on Wednesday increased the minimum support price (MSP) of various Rabi crops with the onset of the Rabi crop season. On Thursday, the data to be watch would be Nikkei Services PMI.  
  
Asian equity indices were trading lower on Thursday morning following a muted performance on the Wall Street overnight. Hong Kong’s stock market has plunged 1.50 per cent, while the Japanese market Nikkei 225 index has lost 0.21 per cent. Markets in China are closed for a public holiday.  
  
Back home, Wednesday turned out to be a terrible day of trading as key benchmark indices ended below their key psychological levels of 36,000 (BSE Sensex) and 10,900 (Nifty). Markets began the day on a shaky note and remained under pressure throughout the session. However, the selling pressure intensified in the last leg of trading, which dragged the indices to levels last seen in the month of July. The broader market witnessed a divergent trend with the Nifty Mid-cap losing 1.15 per cent and Nifty Small-cap gaining 0.47 per cent. Talking about sectoral performance, barring Nifty Metal, all other sectoral indices ended the day in the red, with Nifty Auto and Nifty IT losing the most.  
  
The US stocks finished Wednesday's session with minuscule gains, with the Dow Jones ending the session at new record closing high. The optimism on the Wall Street was seen on the back of better-than-expected jobs data and services sector activity. The 10-year Treasury note broke out of its trading range and hit multi-year high, which kept the gains in check. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 54 points to close at 26,828, the Nasdaq Composite index climbed 26 points to finish at 8,025 and the S&P 500 index inched up 2 points to end at 2,926.  
  
The European equities ended Wednesday’s session in the positive territory, shrugging off some below par economic data in the region. Investors' sentiments received a boost from easing concerns over the Italian budget. The DAX of Germany was closed for a holiday. The CAC 40 of France rose 0.43 per cent and the UK’s FTSE 100 increased 0.48 per cent.