Nifty to open gap down as global markets correct

SGX Nifty is trading with losses of more than 100 points or 0.89 per cent on Friday. We can expect a gap down opening on the Indian bourses on Friday.

The Asian markets are trading weak across the board as the investors focussed on the rising COVID cases in the US. The pandemic has reached its deadliest in the US, putting some breaks on the stock market rally.

Investors also discounted the comments of Jeremy Powell, Chairman of the US Federal Reserve where he cautioned that the next few months could be extremely important in spite of the positive development on the vaccine front. The risks would remain high in comparison to the recovery as experts warn that the prospect of vaccines isn’t good enough to improve the economic environment and that economic challenges created by the pandemic remain. The UK witnessed record infections despite increased lockdowns even as hospitalisation rate increased at a steady rate in France.

Dow slipped by more than 300 points while S&P 500 and NASDAQ showed relative outperformance. The European stocks retreated on Thursday with DAX slipping by more than 1 per cent.

In Indian markets, the focus will be back on the earnings and there will be an attempt by the market participants to discount the impact of fresh stimulus announced by the government. A better-than-expected earnings and stimulus announcement by the government may arrest any major fall in the markets on Friday.