SGX indicates positive opening on cards

Indian markets are likely to open a tad higher on Wednesday as sentiments amongst the Asian peers are seen upbeat on hopes as the spread of coronavirus is slowing down. SGX Nifty is trading up by 33 points at 12,160 levels. Domestically, commanding attention of the market participants would be on the industrial production for December 2019 and CPI inflation numbers for January 2020. Apart from this, a host of companies are scheduled to announce their December quarter earnings, which include key stocks such as Hindalco, IRCTC and Ashok Leyland.  

Asian markets are seen advancing on Wednesday with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng leading the way as it has gained 0.65 per cent, followed by Japan’s Nikkei 225 (which resumed trading after Tuesday’s holiday) has gained 0.54 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite is trading with miniscule gains of 0.06 per cent.

Back home, on Tuesday, bulls staged a smart comeback after two consecutive days of losses but ended the session off its high. Nifty gained 0.63 per cent to end at 12,108 and BSE Sensex advanced 0.58 per cent to close at 41,216. The broader markets underperformed where in Nifty Mid-cap and Nifty Small-cap added 0.08 and 0.21 per cent, respectively. On the sectoral front, barring Nifty FMCG, all other indices ended in green with Nifty Media and Nifty Metal as the major gainers.

In overnight development, Tuesday’s session of US markets were on a mixed note as the stock marked faded from its highs amid Fed Chairman Jerome Powell warned Congress that the Coronavirus could hurt the global economy. All told, S&P 500 led the way as it rose 0.2 per cent and Nasdaq added 0.1 per cent, while Dow ended flat at 29,276. Meanwhile, European markets ended the day in green. UK consumer spending grew strongly at the start of the year and consumer confidence hit its highest level in more than three years, as per the survey data from Barclaycard. UK economy stalled in the final quarter of 2019, with no growth at all, in the previous three months.