Nifty Likely To Open Gap Down

Concerns over Chinese economy and global growth meltdown triggering widespread panic sell-off, pulled down the Sensex sharply by over 700 points to close below the 28,000 mark this week. Key indices witnessed deeper cracks extending its losing streak to second consecutive week as Nifty has plunged nearly by 5% over the fortnight after the Indian currency hit a two-year low. For the week, the BSE Sensex ended 2.5% lower, while the Nifty lost 2.57%. The BSE Mid-Cap index dropped 2.07%. The BSE Small-Cap index lost 1.32%.

U.S. stocks closed deep in the red on Friday as global growth concerns accelerated selling pressure to push the Dow and Nasdaq into correction territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gave up 3.12% for the day and was down 5.82% for the week. The S&P 500 shed 3.19% in the session and 5.77% for the week. The tech heavy Nasdaq fared even worse, losing 3.52%, down 6.78% for the week.

European stocks fell into correction territory Friday, enduring their worst week of the year as downbeat Chinese data and Greek uncertainty weighed. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 3.3% to close at 361.28 and it saw a weekly drop of 6.5% for its worst weekly performance since August 2011. In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 dropped 3% to end at 10,124.52, while France’s CAC 40 tumbled 3.2% to 4,630.99. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 UKX fell 2.8% to close at 6,187.65 on Friday. Last week, the UK's FTSE 100 posted its biggest weekly loss this year of 5%. Both France's Cac 40 and Germany's Dax indexes lost 7% of their value last week.

U.S. oil futures on Friday settled below USD 41 a barrel for the first time since the Great Recession to suffer an eighth straight weekly loss—the longest streak of weekly losses since 1986. On the week, Brent futures lost USD 3.30, or 7.58%, the eighth straight weekly decline, as ongoing concerns over a glut in world markets continued to drive down prices. WTI oil futures plunged USD 2.39, or 6.17%, the tenth consecutive weekly loss, as worries over high domestic U.S. oil production weighed.

The Dubai Financial Market closed down 7%, while the Saudi exchange also lost 7% on Sunday after Fitch ratings agency cut its outlook for the country on concern about low oil prices.

Asian stocks extended declines as a global rout deepened, concerns over the slowing Chinese economy continued to unnerve global equity markets. Japan’s NIKKEI 225 index dropped 3.21%, heading for a correction. Singapore’s Straits Times Index slid 2.54%, set for a three-year low. The Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 7.42%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index retreated 3.14%. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index lost 2.3%.

A SGX CNX Nifty Index future for August delivery was down 168 points at 8,107. Nifty is likely to open gap down on account of weak global cues. During the week, the market may remain volatile due to F&O expiry this week.