Muted start to the markets likely tracking mixed global cues

Traders can expect a quiet start to the session on Thursday as no clear trend has emerged either in the Asian or the US markets. The dull trend in the SGX Nifty suggests that Nifty could open marginally up by 5 points at 11,484. Aurobindo Pharma, Bharat Forge, Cera Sanitary, Cummins India, Engineers India, HSIL, IPCA Labs, Jet Airways, Page Industries, Eicher Motors will announce their results today.  
  
Asian markets were mixed on Thursday following the lacklustre trading seen on the Wall Street overnight. The trade dispute between the US and China has escalated further with the Chinese government unveiling tariffs on $16 billion of American goods. Hong Kong stock market's Hang Seng has risen 0.61 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite has jumped 0.93 per cent. On the other hand, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 has slipped 0.27 per cent and.  

Back home, after a day of consolidation, bulls made a strong comeback on Wednesday with frontline indices ending at fresh record high levels. The Nifty ended up by 61 points at 11,450 and BSE Sensex soared 222 points to close at 37,888. A divergent trend was seen in the broader market as the Nifty Mid-cap ended flat with negative bias, whereas Small-cap added 0.30 per cent. Talking about sectoral performance, Nifty Pharma ended as a top loser, followed by Nifty Auto, Nifty Realty and Nifty IT, whereas, Nifty PSU Bank emerged as a top gainer.  

The US stock markets struggled for direction during trading on Wednesday and ended the day mixed. This was on the back of Beijing's plans to retaliate immediately against the latest round of US tariffs on Chinese imports by slapping tariffs on a wide range of American products worth $16 billion with a levy of 25 per cent. A batch of weak earnings from high profile companies such as Walt Disney and Snap added to the negative sentiments. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 45 points to close at 25,584 and the S&P 500 dipped less than a single point to finish at 2,858, while the Nasdaq extended its winning streak as it gained 5 points to end at 7,888.  
  
The European markets finished mixed on Wednesday as trade war concerns continued to weigh on investors' sentiments. The DAX of Germany lost 0.12 per cent; CAC 40 of France weakened 0.35 per cent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.75 per cent.