Markets to open on a flat note

After several weeks of anticipation, the Nifty finally registered a fresh all-time high of 12,132 levels on Tuesday. However, it failed to hold these levels due to the wobbly political situation in Maharashtra that resulted in volatility on D-Street. This volatility not only erased the index's early leads but also made it enter into negative terrain, ending the day with losses. On Wednesday, the markets are likely to begin the session on a flat note as there are no major cues to drive the markets but, as the day progresses, a little volatility may be seen due to investors wanting to adjust their positions ahead of the weekly and monthly November F&O expiry series, due on Thursday. At the time of writing this piece, the SGX Nifty was trading almost unchanged and quoting at 12,086 levels.
 
The Asian markets are trading mixed on Wednesday morning as investors focus on the US-China trade talks to see if a ‘phase one’ deal seems likely since December 15, 2019, deadline looms for the implementation of further tariffs on Chinese goods. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index was up by 0.37 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.12 per cent while China’s Shanghai Composite was down by 0.13 per cent.
 
Back home, Tuesday session turned out to be terrifying for the markets, with the key benchmark indices hitting a record high in morning trade but, as the day progressed, volatility ruled the roost since the market pared its gains and even slipped in the negative territory. This was majorly due to the political drama in Maharashtra as Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis resigned after his deputy Ajit Pawar quit. All told, the Nifty slipped 0.30 per cent to close at 12,038 and the BSE Sensex dropped 0.17 per cent to settle at 40,821. Both the broader market indices, Nifty Midcap and Smallcap lost 0.85 and 0.42 per cent, respectively. On the sectoral front, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Bank, and Nifty Financial Service ended as top gainers while Nifty Media lost the most as its major component ZEEL plunged as much as 7 per cent.
 
In overnight developments, the US stocks continued to score record highs, aided by the optimism of a ‘phase one’ US-China trade deal. Meanwhile, the markets digested a vast number of mixed earnings and economic data. The Consumer confidence dipped to 125.5 for November. Although this reading is below the Bloomberg estimates, it still shows that the consumer is in decent shape. At the end of the session, the Dow added 55 points, the S&P 500 was up 7 points, and the NASDAQ was up by 15 points. The European markets finished mostly higher, following a relatively upbeat read on German consumer sentiment.