Markets likely to take a breather and open flat

Equity markets are expected to open flat and take a breather after registering a scintillating rally in the last 3-4 trading sessions. Additionally, the Asian peers are trading in a capped range in the trade today. The SGX Nifty is pointing that Nifty may open flat at 10,425.  

Equity markets struggled for direction in Asia on Wednesday as lack of domestic economic news has left them clueless and unable to track the US stocks. Japan’s benchmark index Nikkei 225 has slipped 60 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 49 points and China’s Shanghai Composite was almost unchanged.   

Back home, equity benchmarks rose for a fourth consecutive session on Tuesday as both ICICI Bank and Axis Bank rose about 3% and 5%, respectively. After a solid start, markets traded in a sideways mode as traders preferred to book profits at higher levels after the strong rally seen in the last 3-4 trading sessions and, as a result of this, markets ended off day’s high. The broader indices ended on a mixed note as Nifty Mid-cap added 0.18%, while Nifty Small-cap lost 0.01%. Sector-wise, Nifty Metal, Nifty Realty and Nifty Pvt Bank were the top gainers with gains of 2.04%, 1.09% and 0.82%, respectively.  

Tuesday turned out to be a fabulous day of trade for the US stocks after the conciliatory remarks from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s raised hopes that China may not go all out in retaliation against the US. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 429 points to 24,408, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index soared 144 points to 7,094 and the S&P 500 climbed 44 points to 2,657. On the US economic front, producer prices increased more than expected in March.  

The European equity benchmarks ended the Tuesday’s session in the green terrain with frontline indices closing at their highest level in about a month. The DAX of Germany rose 1.11%, CAC 40 of France finished higher by 0.84% and the FTSE 100 of the UK climbed 1%.