Markets to open on a cautious note tracking subdued cues from Asian peers

Indian equities are poised to open on a cautious note tracking subdued leads from the Asian markets. Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange is currently trading with a loss of 18 points at 10,797.  

Asian stocks traded with a cautious tone on the last trading day of the week as reports from the media suggest that US President Donald Trump made up his mind to impose tariffs on Chinese goods and the revised list is likely to be announced as soon as Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index has gained 0.46% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 0.10%, while China’s Shanghai Composite has lost 0.54%. 

Back home, Thursday turned out to be a terrible day for the Indian markets as frontline indices snapped their three-session winning streak and both Nifty and Sensex slipped below their crucial levels of 10,850 and 35,600, respectively. The WPI inflation shot up to a 14-month high of 4.43% in May on the back of higher fuel prices. The broader market showed resilience as Nifty Mid-cap ended with a gain of 0.08% while Nifty Small-cap ended flat. On the sectoral front, Nifty Pharma surged 1.83% and ended as top gainer, while Nifty IT and Nifty PSU Bank emerged as top losers, ending the session with losses of 1.49% and 1.44%, respectively.  

The US stocks mostly closed in the green on Thursday. While the tech-laden Nasdaq climbed to a new record closing high, the Dow closed lower for the third successive session. Buying interest was generated by stronger-than-expected economic data. The retail sales jumped in May by 0.8 per cent whereas economists had expected retails sales to rise by 0.4 per cent. A separate report from the US Labour Department showed that fewer US workers filed for unemployment claims last week than expected, an encouraging sign for the labour market. The Nasadaq Composite index jumped 65 points to close at 7,761, the S&P 500 index rose 7 points to finish at 2,782, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 26 points to end the day at 25,175.   

The Thursday session turned out to be a fabulous one for the European stock markets as the markets rallied higher following the announcement that the European Central Bank (ECB) will wind down its massive bond-buying programme by the end of 2018. The ECB also said it plans to hold interest rates at record low, at least through the summer of 2019. The DAX of Germany climbed 1.68%, the CAC 40 of France surged 1.39% and the FTSE 100 finished higher by 0.81%.