Markets to open weak following negative global cues
The mood of the global markets turned jittery as global growth concerns returned to haunt the markets and also, reports indicated that President Donald Trump did not expect to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before the March deadline for trade war negotiations. Considering these factors, we may see initial weakness in the Indian markets. The SGX Nifty suggests that Nifty may open around 11,073, down by 21 points. Some of the key stocks such as BPCL, Engineers India, M&M, REC and Tata Steel will announce their quarterly earnings.
Asian markets were notably lower on Friday amid uneasiness surrounding global growth concerns and also the lingering uncertainties over the trade deal. The Japanese stock market Nikkei 225 has declined 1.66 per cent and Hong Kong’s stock index Hang Seng which returned to trade after Lunar New Year holiday has lost 1.12 per cent.
Back home, key benchmark indices ended the volatile session almost unchanged on Thursday. Indices opened the session on a positive note but profit taking at higher levels capped the upside. However, the announcement of rate cut by the RBI and a change in the policy stance triggered momentary upside but that fizzled out in the end. The broader markets outperformed the key benchmark indices with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap surging 0.74 per cent and 0.71 per cent, respectively. On the sectoral front, Nifty Media, Nifty Auto and Nifty Pharma were top gainers, while Nifty PSU Banks ended as top loser.
On the Wall Street, major indices witnessed a steep fall on Thursday as the European Union lowered its outlook for growth in 2019 and the worrisome news from the White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow that the US and China have a pretty sizeable distance to go before reaching a trade deal added fuel to the fire . Also, headlines in the media indicated that President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are highly unlikely to meet before the March trade negotiation deadline. The Dow Jones lost 0.87 per cent to 25,170, the S&P 500 dropped 0.94 per cent to 2,706 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Index plunged 1.18 per cent to 7,288.
On Thursday, European markets too witnessed a sharp correction after EU region downgraded its growth forecasts for the full year and the Bank of England projected the weakest economic outlook for the UK in a decade this year. The DAX of Germany slumped 2.52 per cent, the CAC 40 of France and the FTSE 100 of the UK ended lower by 1.6 and 1 per cent, respectively.