Markets may open on a dull note tracking subdued global cues

The local markets are likely to see a cautious opening on the back of mostly dull cues from the global arena. The SGX Nifty suggests that Nifty could open lower by 32 points around the level of 11,572. .  
  
Majority of Asian markets are trading in the red on Friday. Barring Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index, all other major indices are trading in the red. Japan’s core consumer price rose 0.8 per cent in July from a year earlier, but remained unchanged from the previous month's gain. The Nikkei has risen 0.34 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng has declined 0.60 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite has slipped 0.30 per cent.   
  
Back home, Thursday turned out to be a day of consolidation, where markets traded range-bound and settled with marginal gains. The indices started the session on a positive note by registering a fresh milestone in the morning session; however, profit-taking pushed the benchmark indices lower as the session progressed. But buying in select index majors in the last leg of trading helped the market close flat. The broader indices bucked the market trend as both the Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap dipped 0.18 per cent and 0.44 per cent, respectively. A mixed trend was witnessed on the sectoral front, where Nifty Pharma, IT and FMCG were top gainers, while Nifty Metal and PSU Bank lost over a per cent.  

The US stock indices moved nowhere as they just vacillated within the intra-day boundaries. Eventually, a tail-end profit booking led to a bit of a weak closing on Thursday. With this, the Nasdaq Composite index ended a multi-session streak of gains. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 77 points to finish at 25,657; the S&P 500 dipped 5 point to close at 2,857 and the Nasdaq Composite Index lost 10 points to end at 7,878. In the US economic news, a report released by the US labour department showed a modest decrease in first-time claims for US unemployment benefits in the week ended August 18.  Meanwhile, the sales of new US homes slumped 1.7 per cent in July, the second straight monthly decline. Going ahead, traders will keep a close watch on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole central bankers’ symposium on Friday for clues on future rate hikes.  
  
The European indices ended the Thursday’s session with minuscule losses. The euro area private sector continued to expand in August, but the rate of expansion remained one of the weakest seen over the past year-and-half, while the Eurozone consumer confidence weakened sharply in August to its lowest level in more than a year, preliminary data from European Commission showed. In other economic data, Germany’s private sector activity grew at the fastest pace in nearly six months in August and France’s private sector growth accelerated to a four-month high in August. The DAX of Germany closed with a decline of 0.16 per cent; CAC 40 of France fell 0.02 per cent and the UK’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.15 per cent.