Markets may begin steady following positive cues from Asian peers

The outlook for the day is a steady start as cues from Asian peers are encouraging. After a steady start, commanding attention would be Finance Minister's official announcement with respect to measures to boost the markets either in the form of clarity on reforms, exemption from certain taxes or a big growth boost proposal from the government. A lot had been talked about the likely measures since last week or so. At the time of writing, SGX Nifty was trading with a modest gain of 4 points at the 11,058 level. Well, technically, Nifty needs to move above its key barrier of 200-DMA and until this barrier is taken out comfortably, cautiousness would continue to prevail on the D-Street.  

The Asian stock markets are seen advancing on Monday on the back of positive leads from the Wall Street Friday on hopes of more stimulus from central banks around the world to prevent a global recession. The Japanese stock index Nikkei 225 has surged 0.52 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has soared 1.68 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite index has edged up 0.56 per cent.

Back home, the key benchmark indices after opening on a negative note managed to recoup their losses and went on to trade in the positive territory. In the end, Nifty added 0.17 per cent and BSE Sensex gained 0.10 per cent. The broader market indices like Nifty Midcap and Smallcap advanced 0.33 per cent and 0.30 per cent, respectively. The sectoral indices exhibited mixed trend with Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Auto emerging top gainers, while Nifty Pharma and Nifty IT being top losers.

The US stocks rose sharply on Friday on the back of stabilisation in the global bond yields and Europe and China signalling plans for additional stimulus to shore up their economies in the face of a global trade war. The Dow rose 1.2 per cent, the S&P 500 jumped 1.4 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 1.7 per cent.  

The European indices closed firmly in the positive terrain on Friday. A technical glitch delayed the opening of the London Stock Exchange by an hour and 40 minutes. Germany’s DAX rose 1.31 per cent, France’s CAC 40 ended up 1.22 per cent and UK’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.71 per cent.