Markets likely to witness gap-up opening on positive Asian cues

Indian markets are expected to make a gap-up opening as cues from global peers are optimistic. The SGX Nifty indicates that the Nifty could surge as much as 117 points at the opening bell and open around 10,613. However, a crucial event will unfold today as the RBI will announce its monetary policy, about which the consensus is that status quo on rates will continue. With yields up sharply and the US likely to hike rates, the RBI will have little room for rate cuts as of now. The market participants will be keen to read the RBI commentary on fiscal deficit spillage and its likely impact on yields and RBI's urgent measures to stem the bond market rout in the last few days.  

Aurobindo Pharma, Cipla, Eicher Motors, BEML, IGL, IRB Infra, Polaris, Kaveri Seed Company, Prestige Estate, SRF, Torrent Power and Voltas are some of the key companies to announce their results today.  

Asian stocks markets have bounced back on Wednesday on the back of overnight gains in the US stock markets , thereby retracing losses made in the recent sell-off. Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 has surged 2.96%, Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng has risen 2.31% and China’s Shanghai Composite has gained 1.41%. 

Back home, markets witnessed a huge gap-down opening, in line with the Asian peers. However, after the horrible start, markets rebounded from lower levels to recover more than half of the losses and outperformed the Asian peers. The BSE Sensex settled at 34,196 with losses of 1.61% and Nifty settled at 10,498 down by 1.58%. The broader indices witnessed severe sell-off as Nifty Mid-cap and Nifty Small-cap slumped 1.62% and 2.77%, respectively. Sector-wise, all the sectoral Nifty indices ended the day in the red.  

The US equity markets saw significant volatility over the course of the trading session on Tuesday before ending the day firmly in positive territory. The Dow surged 567 points to close at 24,913, the Nasdaq jumped 148 to finish at 7,116 and the S&P 500 climbed 46 points to settle at 2,695.   

In Europe, there was a sea of red as markets ended Tuesday’s session with substantial losses. Investors are keeping an eye on political development in Germany. The CAC 40 of France tumbled 2.35%, Germany’s DAX plunged 2.32%, while FTSE 100 of the UK declined 2.64%.