Markets in for a positive start following optimistic global leads
The outlook is a positive start following optimistic leads from the Asian peers and a strong close on the Wall Street. At the time of writing, SGX Nifty was trading higher by 38 points at 11,533 level. The zone of 11,600-11,625 is a strong hurdle for the Nifty and a sustainable move above this zone could possibly open up for a short covering.
Most of the stocks in Asia edged up on Thursday on the back of gains seen overnight on the Wall Street, which were driven higher after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hinted that a rate cut is in the offing. The Japanese stock index Nikkei 225 has gained 0.10 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has risen 0.93 per cent.
Back home, there was an initial knee-jerk reaction in the markets on the back of the not-so-encouraging earnings from the IT bellwether TCS. However, bulls soon managed to recover from the lower levels and the markets traded in the positive terrain for a brief moment. However, as the day progressed, bulls lost out to the bears and soon the markets succumbed under selling pressure. At the close, Nifty slipped below the 11,500 mark, down by 0.49 per cent and the BSE Sensex closed at 38,557, lower by 0.45 per cent. The broader market indices lost more, thereby underperforming the frontline gauges, with Nifty Midcap and Smallcap plunging 1.02 per cent and 0.67 per cent, respectively. Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Realty, Nifty Metal, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Auto were the top losers.
The three major widely followed indices in the US hit new all-time highs on Thursday fuelled by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s Congressional testimony which revived rate cut hopes. Jerome mentioned that ‘cross current are weighing on the economy’ and the Federal Reserve will ‘act as appropriate’. However, in the end, stocks pulled back off their best levels, but the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed at a new record high. The Dow advanced 0.3 per cent and the S&P finished up by 0.5 per cent.
The European stock markets finished in the red terrain on Wednesday following some mixed economic news in the region. Germany’s DAX slipped 0.51 per cent, France’s CAC 40 and the UK’s FTSE 100 both shed 0.08 per cent.