Markets may open with a gap-down tracking negative global cues

The Indian markets are likely to see a gap-down opening on the back of weak global cues as Wall Street closed with marginal losses on Friday. This was in the wake of escalating trade tensions between the US and China as the US President Donald Trump threatened more tariffs of $ 267 billion on Chinese goods on the top of the proposed $ 200 billion worth of tariffs already underway. The SGX Nifty suggests that Nifty could open lower by 54 points around the level of 11,580.  
  
Asian markets have kicked off the fresh week mostly on a negative note after US President Donald Trump threatened to hit Beijing with tariffs on additional $267 billion goods, a move that would expand the growing trade war to cover virtually everything the US imports from China. Barring Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225, all other indices are trading in the negative territory. Nikkei 225 index has gained 0.06 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has slumped 1.28 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite has shed 0.74 per cent.  
  
Back home, Friday turned out to be a fabulous day for the Indian benchmark indices, with frontline indices reclaiming their 11,550 (Nifty) and 38,000 (Sensex) levels. Markets opened on a subdued note and slipped lower; however, as the day progressed, it crawled back into positive territory and extended the gains in the last leg of trading to end near the day's high. The broader indices outperformed the frontline indices as the Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap ended higher by 1.30 per cent and 0.51 per cent, respectively. Talking about sectoral performance, barring Nifty PSU Bank, all other sectoral indices ended in the positive territory, with Nifty Auto and Nifty Metal gaining the most.  

On the Wall Street, all three major indices put in a choppy and mostly lower performance on Friday amid the intensifying trade war after President Donald Trump suggested even more tariffs against China. This announcement overshadowed a stronger-than-expected August employment report. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 79 points to close at 25,917, the S&P dipped 6 points to finish at 2,872 and the Nasdaq lost 20 points to end at 7,903  
  
The European equities finished mostly mixed on Friday with trade anxieties persistently hampering conviction of market participants. The DAX of Germany added 0.04 per cent and the CAC 40 of France gained 0.16 per cent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.59 per cent. On the data front, the Euro zone economy grew at 0.4 per cent in the second quarter, while the German exports and industrial production both unexpectedly declined in July.