Markets may begin on a tepid note despite positive cues from Asian peers

Indian markets are likely to be begin on a lacklustre note and may move ahead based on how the US-Saudi Arabia standoff pans out during the day. The SGX Nifty is trading with a marginal gain of 13 points at 10,532. Among Nifty 50 stocks, Hero Motocorp and Infosys are set to declare their results today.   
  
Asian markets are trading in the green on Tuesday, shrugging off weak cues from the Wall Street in overnight trade. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has gained 0.70 per cent; China’s Shanghai Composite has risen 0.67 per cent and Japanese market Nikkei 225 index has increased by 0.58 per cent.  
  
Back home, markets began the week with Monday morning blues tracking weak macroeconomic data and negative global cues. Thereafter, the markets fluctuated in both the directions; however, buying in the last leg of trading led the indices to close near the day’s high. The BSE Sensex rallied 132 points to close at 34,865 and the Nifty surged 40 points to close above the 10,500 mark. The broader indices outperformed the benchmark indices with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap logging gains of 0.93 and 1.44 per cent, respectively. A mixed trend was witnessed on the sectoral front, with Nifty Pharma and Nifty IT emerging top gainers, whereas Nifty Auto, Metal and Private Bank ended in the red.  
  
On Monday, the US equities ended the day in the red. At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 89 points, the S&P 500 dropped 16 points and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index plunged 66 points. In the economic news, the commerce department released a report showing much weaker-than-expected US retail sales growth in the month of September, while the pace of growth in New York manufacturing activity accelerated more than expected in the month of October.    
  
The majority of the European markets closed higher on Monday. Going ahead, market participants are looking ahead to this week’s European Union summit and keeping a watch on Brexit developments.  The DAX of Germany rose 0.78 per cent, the CAC of France dipped 0.02 per cent and the UK’s FTSE 100 added 0.48 per cent.