Muted start likely for the markets

Today, the markets are likely to make a soft start after reports that US President Donald Trump indicated that more tariffs against China could be on the cards. The SGX Nifty is pointing that Nifty may open with marginally loss of 10 points at 10,346.  

Asian stock markets are trading in the green territory on Friday, but volatility in the markets is higher as reports came in Thursday evening that the US President Donald Trump had asked the United States Trade Representative to find another $ 100 billion in potential tariffs on Chinese goods. The Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei 225 has added 27 points and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has surged 388 points, while China’s Shanghai Composite is closed for a holiday.  

Back home, Thursday turned out to be a fabulous day of trade for the Indian equity markets with frontline indices recapturing their crucial levels at 33,500  (BSE Sensex) and 10,300  (Nifty),  as sentiments got lifted after the RBI revised inflation estimates on the lower side against street expectations. The RBI maintained status quo on the repo rate at 6% as per expectations. The reverse repo rate was also held at 5.75% while the SLR and CRR were stable at 19.5% and 4%, respectively. The broader indices also rallied, with the Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap gaining 1.99% and 2.29%, respectively. Sector-wise, all sectoral indices closed in the green with Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Metal and Nifty Realty being the gainers, surging 4.92%, 4.06% and 2.62%, respectively.  

The US stock markets closed higher for the third straight day, following the sell-off on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 241 points to close at 24,505, Nasdaq rose 34 points to finish at 7,077 and the S&P 500 advanced 18 points to end the day at 2,663. Now, the traders look ahead to the release of the Labor Department’s more closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday. 

The European stocks on Thursday booked the best one-day rally in nearly two years, after concerns over a potential trade war between the two largest economies in the world relaxed. The DAX of Germany jumped 2.90% and the CAC 40 of France rose 2.62%. The FTSE 100 of UK climbed 2.35% marking its best daily advance since June 29, 2016.