Markets to make cautious start of the F&O expiry session

Today, the start of the April F&O series expiry session is likely to be slightly in red, tracking mixed global cues and volatility can be seen with the progress of the trade. The SGX Nifty is pointing that Nifty may open with a loss of 20 points at 10,548 .     

Equity markets lacked direction in Asia on Thursday, as was the case overnight in the US. Though, the Japanese stock market Nikkei gained 131 points as Tech stocks lead the rally. While, the Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 241 points and the Chinese markets dropped 19 points.    

Back home, benchmark indices ended lower in a volatile trade on Wednesday ahead of April series F&O expiry.  The BSE Sensex lost 115 points to end at 34,501 and the Nifty ended lower by 44 points at 10,571. The broader indices also ended in negative terrain with Nifty Midcap and Smallcap index declining 0.41% and 0.80%, respectively. Amongst the sector, Nifty IT and Nifty held the markets as these two sectors were the only gainers ending with smart gains of 1.15% and 0.60%, respectively. On the other hand, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma were top losers. 

US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday, with the Dow and S&P 500 ending the session slightly higher as robust corporate earnings appeared to outshine on-going rise in bond yields. The Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped five-day losing streak on the back of surge in shares of Boeing, which rallied on better-than- expected results. To conclude the session, Dow gained 60 points to 24,084. The S&P 500 rose 5 points to 2,639. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 5 points to 7,004. 

The European stock tumbled on Wednesday on concerns over the US treasury yields. Market participants were also cautious ahead of European Central Bank policy statement which is scheduled on Thursday. The DAX of Germany plunged 1.02 per cent, the CAC 40 of France lost 0.57 per cent and the FTSE 100 of UK declined 0.62 per cent.