Markets set for a gap-down opening

Global markets are reeling under a selling pressure; blame it on the crashed oil prices. The historic negative oil prices are clear gloomy signs about the outlook of global economy as a consequence of COVID-19 pandemic. This global weakness is sure to spill on Indian shores as well as SGX Nifty as it’s indicating a gap down start for Indian markets. At the time of writing, SGX Nifty was down by staggering 200 points. Earnings in focus would be on ACC and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance as they are scheduled to report their March quarter earnings today.    

Asian indices look extremely weak on Tuesday, courtesy oil story. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has dropped 2.29 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei has plunged 1.58 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite drops 0.81 per cent.

Back home, the markets opened the session with an upside gap. However, this turned out to be just a formality as within no time, most of the gains were erased. During the remaining part of the day, the markets kept oscillating between positive and negative territory to conclude the day on a mixed note. Interestingly, the broader markets indices outperformed the frontline gauges with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-Cap gaining 0.51 and 0.36 per cent, respectively.  Nifty dipped 0.05 per cent while, BSE Sensex added 0.19 per cent. On the sectoral front, it was a mixed performance. Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty IT were the top gainers while, Nifty Metal, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Private Bank were the top losers.

In overnight trade, US markets nosedived on Monday on the back of jaw-dropping plunge in crude oil prices. The front-month WTI futures contract collapsed below zero but the fall was not restricted here, as it slipped into a negative territory to close at minus $37.63 a barrel. The reason for this phenomenon was the weak demand and scant storage space, which means that oil traders even wanted to sell oil at a loss, just to get rid of inventories somehow. At the closing bell, Dow lost 2.4 per cent, S&P 500 slipped 1.8 per cent and Nasdaq slumped one per cent. Meanwhile, European markets ended the day with modest gains as late hour buying helped the markets to keep their heads above the neutral line.