Weak start for markets on Wednesday

The markets across the Asia are weak today, and this global weakness is sure to spill on to the Indian shores as well. The SGX Nifty, which is currently trading almost 9 points below its yesterday's close, is already reflecting it. The FPIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs. 915 crores in the last trading session. FPIs seemed less enthusiastic on the Indian equities in the last four trading session after the strength in the dollar began to raise questions over rupee value. The market is trading in a 200-220 point range with a low volatility. As long as this indecisive nature continues, the market may witness some more lackluster sessions. Once the range is breached on either side, a big sharp move is on the cards.

The Asian markets are reeling under the selling pressure on Wednesday in the face of fading optimism of the US and China phase one trade deal as, according to some reports, the US is reluctant to roll back Chinese tariffs, which has been a key point of contention in the negotiations. Japan has emerged as the worst performer so far, with the Nikkei 225 down by a 0.74 per cent, followed by Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite.

Back home, the markets ended Tuesday’s session with healthy gains, where BSE Sensex added 0.46 per cent and the Nifty rose 0.47 per cent. After opening the session with a positive bias, the markets were volatile throughout the day. However, some buying happened in the fag end of the session. The broader market also ended the day with gains with the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap adding 0.21 and 0.37 per cent, respectively. On the sectoral front, Nifty PSU Bank jumped 3.88 per cent and ended as the top gainer while Nifty Metal, Nifty Auto, and Nifty FMCG ended as the top losers. The advance-decline ratio was leaned towards decliners and this clearly indicates that there was no broad-based buying, but buying was limited to a few pockets.

In overnight developments, the US stocks put in a mixed performance on Tuesday as traders digested latest batch of corporate earnings announcements. Whereas, in the economic announcement, the US housing starts climbed 3.8 per cent in October, a positive sign for the overall economy, as developers anticipate a steady demand. The Nasdaq jumped 21 points to a fresh record closing high while the Dow slipped 102 points and the S&P 500 edged down 2 points. The European equities finished mixed after riding higher in the first half of trading session, owing to the uncertainty about a potential US-China trade deal.