Markets may open with a gap-down following weak global cues

Indian stocks are likely to witness a gap down opening following weakness seen across Asian markets and US equity futures pointed to a substantial fall on the Wall Street. The SGX Nifty Index Future has declined 83 points, indicating Nifty may open around the 10,750 level.  
  
Asian stocks are seeing considerable weakness on Thursday ahead of a closely watched meeting of the OPEC. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has plummeted 2.29 per cent, Japan's Nikkei 225 has plunged 1.88 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite index has fallen 0.95 per cent.  

Back home, equity benchmarks began the session on a negative note following negative cues from the global peers. Thereafter, the benchmarks traded most of the time in a range. However, several attempts were made for a recovery, but all in vain as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent. At the closing bell, Nifty fell 0.80 per cent to end at 10,783 and the BSE Sensex lost 0.69 per cent to settle at 35,884. The broader indices witnessed fierce sell-off as Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap ended down by 1.46 and 1.78 per cent, respectively. On the sectoral front, barring Nifty IT, all other indices ended in the red with Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma declining the most.  
  
Wall Street was closed on Wednesday due to the national day of mourning for former US President George H.W. Bush.  
  
The European markets witnessed sell-off on Wednesday and remained under pressure throughout the session. Brexit-related uncertainty contributed to the destructive mood after Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a series of embarrassing defeats in parliament. The DAX of Germany dropped 1.19 per cent, the CAC of France finished lower by 1.36 per cent and the UK’s FTSE 100 lost 1.44 per cent.