Markets likely to extend losses on negative global cues

Indian stock markets are expected to extend their downward slide as leads from Asian peers are weak, following a sharp decline in the US stocks. The SGX Nifty is indicating that the Nifty could fall 27 points at the opening bell.  

Shares tumbled across Asia on Tuesday after a wild day on Wall Street. Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei 225 has lost 214 points at 21,267, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has fallen 188 points to 31,325 and China’s Shanghai Composite has declined 8 points at 3,271.  

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks kickstarted the session on a positive note. However, the enthusiasm lasted merely for few minutes as we saw good amount of selling pressure. As a result, Nifty continued to move in the southward direction to end near the intra-day lows, with frontline indices plummeting below their crucial 10,100 (Nifty) and 33,000 (Sensex) levels. The broader indices underperformed against the benchmark indices after Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap lost 1.53% and 2.19%, respectively. All the sectoral indices ended lower with realty, metal and PSU banks suffering the most.   

The US stock markets witnessed massacre on Monday with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq logging their worst day since February 8 and the Dow erasing its year-to-date gains. The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite index plummeted 138 points to end the day at 7,344. The stock of Facebook marked its worst daily drop in about four years amid concerns about how the social media giant managed user data. The Dow declined 335 points to close at 24,610 and the S&P 500 index dropped 39 points to finish at 2,713. Now all eyes will be on the Fed statement in the evening of March 21 when the Fed meet concludes.  

The European markets had a dreadful start to the week. Germany’s DAX index slipped 1.39%, France’s CAC 40 index shed 1.13% and UK's FTSE 100 declined 1.69%. The much-awaited agreement between the EU and UK over the transition post-Brexit appears to be finally in place.