Nice start for the markets expected riding on Asian optimism

A prosperous start is in the store for the Indian markets following optimism seen across the Asian markets in early trading. Nifty 50 index future on the Singapore stock exchange is currently trading with gains of 32 points at 10,979. The key domestic macro events like May IIP and June CPI inflation data are likely to be announced later during the day. The stocks of Karnataka Bank and Cyient could be in focus as they are due to announce their quarterly earnings today.  

The stock markets across Asia shrug off trade war concerns and edged higher on Thursday. China’s Shanghai Composite has gained 1.29%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index has surged 1.09% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index has added 0.43%.  

Back home, the equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty witnessed choppy movement in Wednesday’s trading before closing flat for the day. The BSE Sensex finished at 32,266, gaining 26 points, and Nifty closed at 10,948, up by 1 point. Markets had opened flat on Wednesday, but thereafter, markets traded between the green and red terrains throughout the day, resulting in a flat day for the stock markets. The broader markets snapped their two-day winning streak as Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap ended with losses of 0.49% and 0.50%, respectively. Talking about the sectoral performance, majority of the indices ended in the red with Nifty Metal plunging the most by 3.07%, followed by Nifty PSU Bank losing 1.91%. Among the gainers, Nifty IT was the top performer, gaining 2.21%, largely led by a sharp upmove in the share price of TCS.  

The US stocks snapped their four-day winning streak on Wednesday and ended the session firmly in the negative territory as the prospects of further round of US tariffs on Chinese goods have revived fears that the trade clash between two superpowers could escalate further, with some investors now fearing a full-blown global trade war becoming a reality.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 219 points to close at 24,700, the S&P 500 index lost 20 points to finish at 2,774, and the Nasdaq Composite index fell 43 points to end the day at 7,717.  

Markets across Europe were jittery as Trump threatened to escalate the trade conflict with China. The DAX of Germany dropped 1.53%, the CAC 40 of France plunged 1.48% and UK’s FTSE 100 declined 1.30%.