Markets may open lower on soaring oil prices

Last week was cheerful for the Indian stock markets as the markets shut the doors right at the highest point of the week, with benchmark indices registering a gain of just over a per cent. Over the weekend, there were host of developments which took place that could have impact on the stock markets. For starters, the major news is that oil prices have spiked amidst drone attacks at Saudi Aramco’s oil facilities and any such spike in global crude oil prices will impact India’s oil import bill and trade deficit. We could see a knee jerk reaction to this news today. However, market participants will take some encouragement from the announcements made by Finance Minister over the weekend to boost sagging exports and a stressed real estate sector. Market participants will also keep an eye on WPI inflation data scheduled to be announced later in the day. At the time of writing, the SGX Nifty was trading lower by 99 points at 11,012 mark.

Asian markets are trading mixed on Monday morning, as oil prices jumped following the drone strikes on Saudi Aramco’s oil facilities on Saturday that knocked out more than 5 per cent of global oil supply. The Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has lost 0.88 per cent, while, the China’s Shanghai Composite was trading flat. Markets in Japan are closed for a holiday.

Back home, Friday turned out to be a fabulous day for the key benchmark indices as indices posted notable gains. After starting the session on a flat note, stock traded sideways with bouts of volatility, however,  the key benchmark indices staged a smart rally in the second half of the session to close at 11,076 (Nifty) and 37,385 (BSE Sensex), up by 0.85 and 0.76 per cent, respectively. In the broader market, Nifty Midcap and Smallcap advanced 0.53 and 0.73 per cent, respectively. Buying interest was seen across the sectors, barring Nifty Pharma, all sectoral indices ended with gains. Nifty Realty and Nifty Metal ended as top gainers.

The US markets lacked clear direction and spent most of the session bouncing back and forth across the neutral line before ending the day on a mixed note as early upbeat sentiment surrounding US-China trade optimism and positive economic data faded heading into the weekend. At the closing bell, the Dow ended up by 37 points, while tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 18 points and the S&P 500 shed 2 points.

The European indices had ended in positive terrain on Friday. The Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 added 0.47 and 0.22 per cent, respectively. The UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.31 per cent.