Markets may open on a cheerful note amid positive cues from Asian peers

The SGX Nifty is indicating a cheerful start for the domestic markets on the back of positive cues from the Asian peers. At the time of writing, the SGX Nifty was trading higher by 25 points at 11,236 level. It would be interesting to see whether the market participants adopt a 'sell on rise' approach or press the button to cover the shorts. However, if the prevalent sentiments are to go by, we assume traders would be hesitant to build aggressive long positions, but if Nifty manages to sustain above the 11,320 level, bears would go for covering the shorts and, as a result, paint the D-Street green. The results expected today include Axis Bank, Hero Motocorp, PEL and Tech Mahindra.

Asian stocks have rallied on Tuesday morning despite mixed leads from the Wall Street overnight as market participants are awaiting for the outcome of the face-to-face talks between the US and Chinese officials and monetary policy decision by the Bank of Japan due later in the day. The Japanese stock index Nikkei 225 has advanced 0.68 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has risen 0.50 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite index has surged 0.50 per cent.  

Back home, bears came back with full force on the D-Street as the markets ended the first trading session of the week in the red. The Nifty plunged 0.84 per cent and BSE Sensex lost 0.52 per cent. Both the Nifty and BSE Sensex closed at more than two-month lows. The selling pressure was more severe among the broader market indices like Nifty Midcap and Smallcap as these indices dropped 0.95 per cent and 1.12 per cent, respectively. On the sectoral front, barring Nifty IT, all other sectoral indices ended in the red, with Nifty Auto, Nifty Media and Nifty Metal being the top losers. The India VIX has shot up 7.67 per cent to 13.06 level.

The US markets put in a mixed show on Monday as traders awaited a busy week that includes the mid-week Federal Reserve’s decision on the interest rates as well as a plethora of earnings and economic data. The Dow added 0.1 per cent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 0.4 per cent and the S&P dipped 0.2 per cent.

The European indices finished mixed on Monday. UK’s FTSE 100 jumped 1.82 per cent after the pound slid sharply on the back of Brexit uncertainty. Meanwhile, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 closed down by 0.02 per cent and 0.16 per cent, respectively.