Markets likely to see muted start tracking cues from Asian peers

Indian markets may start the week on a muted note following mixed cues seen in Asian markets. The SGX Nifty indicates Nifty may open around the level of 10,312, lower by 12 points. On the earnings front, big names like Asian Paints, Hindustan Zinc, Jubilant Life Sciences, Kansai Nerolac Paints, Oberoi Realty, will release their results today.  
  
Major indices in Asia traded mixed on Monday morning. China’s Shanghai Composite index soared more than 2 per cent in early trading and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has gained 1.42 per cent, while the Japanese market Nikkei 225 index has declined 0.30 per cent.  
  
Back home, key benchmark indices logged deep losses on the final trading day of the week, dragged by the fall in the index bellwethers Reliance Industries, HDFC and Infosys. At the end of the session, Nifty lost 150 points to close at 10,304 and BSE Sensex plummeted 464 points to finish at 34,316. Selling pressure was seen in the broader indices as well, with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap losing 1.5 and 1.26 per cent, respectively. Among the sectoral indices, Nifty IT and Nifty Media ended as top losers with losses of 3.16 and 2.11 per cent, respectively, while Nifty FMCG gained the most with a gain of 0.78 per cent.   
  
The US stocks pared early gains to finish mixed on Friday, with better-than-expected earnings from big names companies such as Procter & Gamble, American Express and Honeywell contributed to the early strength on the Wall Street. However, a much steeper-than-expected drop in existing home sales in the month of September and concerns about rising interest rates weigh on the markets. At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 65 points, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index slid 36 points and the S&P 500 edged down 1 point.   
  
Majority of European indices ended in the red on Friday. The DAX of Germany fell 0.31 per cent and the CAC of France weakened by 0.63 per cent. The UK’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.32 per cent. The UK budget deficit reached its lowest September level in 11 years, as per the data from the office from National Statistics.