Markets likely to open with loss amid mixed global cues

The Indian markets are likely to experience Monday morning blues as, at the time of writing, the SGX Nifty indicated that Nifty may open to open modestly lower by 13 points at 11,045. On Sunday, the Election Commission announced the dates for the General Elections. The election will be conducted in seven phases starting on April 11 and ending on May 19. The counting of votes will be on May 23 and the results are expected to be out the same day.

The majority of Asian stock markets have started the first trading session of the week with modest gains. Japanese stock market index Nikkei has added 0.41 per cent, China’s Shanghai Composite index has gained 0.33 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index has risen 0.32 per cent.

Back home, the last trading session of the week ended up being a dull session as frontline indices made no major headway and moved in a capped range throughout the day. In the end, frontline indices snapped their four-day winning streak with Nifty shedding 0.21 per cent and BSE Sensex losing 0.15%. In line with frontline indices, the broader indices ended with modest losses, with Nifty Midcap and Smallcap dipping 0.19 per cent and 0.14 per cent, respectively. Among sectoral indices, a majority of the sectoral indices ended in the red, with Nifty Metal and Nifty IT being top losers, while Nifty Realty and Nifty FMCG posting modest gains and ending as top gainers. 

The mood on the Wall Street was tentative initially on Friday after the February job growth came in well below expectation. However, as the day progressed, the markets recouped their losses and ended the Friday’s session with modest losses. The bounce-back from the lower levels was seen after the US Commerce Department announced that housing starts soared by 18.6 per cent in January. The Dow dropped 23 points, the Nasdaq edged down 13 points and the S&P 500 slipped 6 points.

The European equities ended lower on Friday on the back of disappointing German’s factory orders and sharp decline in Chinese export data. The DAX of Germany ended down 0.52 per cent, the CAC 40 plunged 0.70 per cent and the FTSE 100 of the UK declined 0.74 per cent.