Markets may make muted start tracking lacklustre cues from Asian peers
Markets in India are likely to make a quiet start tracking the lacklustre movement seen across Asian markets. Nifty 50 index future on the Singapore stock exchange is currently trading with modest gains of 3 points at 10,776.
Asian markets are lacking decisive direction on Thursday, with investors refraining from making any significant move ahead of a deadline when tariffs on billions of dollar worth of goods from the US and China are due to be imposed. China’s Shanghai Composite is trading lower by 0.48%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index too has slipped lower by 0.15% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index has lost 0.14%.
Back home, after moving within a slender range for the initial part of the session on Wednesday, Indian equity markets ended in the green for the second successive session with frontline indices recapturing important psychological marks of 10,750 (Nifty) and 35,600 (Sensex). Investors’ sentiment got a boost after the cabinet approved a steep hike in the MSP of kharif crops. Buying interest in the broader indices was restricted and the Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap ended with tiny gains of 0.14% and 0.44%, respectively. Talking about performance of the sectoral indices, barring Nifty IT, Media and PSU Bank, all other sectoral indices ended in the green. Nifty Auto led with gains of 1.25%, followed by Nifty Fin Service which gained 1%.
The US markets were closed on Wednesday on account of Independence Day holiday.
Majority of European indices ended Wednesday’s session marginally lower as cautiousness crept in ahead of the July 6 deadline, when the US is set to impose tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods. China is then expected to respond with tariffs of its own on the US products. Meanwhile, the service sectors activity in the UK economy extended its rebound in the month of June. The HIS Markit Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) jumped to an eight month high of 55.1 in June. The DAX of Germany dipped 0.26%, the CAC 40 of France added 0.07% and the UK’s FTSE 100 edged down 0.27%.