Market May Remain Bearish; Fed In Focus

The Indian equity market log their second straight weekly loss as the key benchmark indices over 2% down for the week on a likely US rate hike and persistent GST concerns, while a fall in carmakers' shares also added to the rout. This was the seventh fall in last eight sessions, and for the week, the Sensex slumped by 593.68 points or 2.31%, while the nifty dropped by 171.45 points or 2.20%.

Foreign funds have pulled USD 477 million from Indian equities this month before the Fed’s rate decision next week. Opposition lawmakers are protesting an Indian court order for the Congress party’s top leaders to testify in a corruption case, raising the risk of further delays to a tax bill that is the centerpiece of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reform push.

U.S. stocks closed out a volatile week with sharp losses Friday as falling prices in crude oil and worries about junk-bond markets rattled Wall Street. Losses in equities throughout the week were fueled by a rout in crude-oil prices and culminated in the harshest selloff in the major stock indexes in more than two months. The S&P 500 slid 39.86 points, or 1.9%, to 2,012.37 and posted a 3.8% loss over the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 309.54 points or 1.8% to 17,265.21 and recorded a 3.3% decline over the week. The Nasdaq Composite fell 111.71 points, or 2.2%, to 4,933.47 and index fell 4.1% over the week.

European markets closed sharply lower on Friday as investor sentiment was curbed by more declines in the oil price. For the week, the pan-European the Stoxx Europe 600 index pulled back 4% for a second consecutive weekly loss. Germany's DAX 30 dropped 2.4% to 10,340.06, deepening its weekly slide to 3.8%. France's CAC 40 fell 1.8% to 4,549.56 and lost 3.5% on the week. The U.K's FTSE 100 gave up 2.2% to 5,952.78 and for the week, it closed 4.6% lower.

Asian stocks fell on Monday after a further slump in oil prices weighed on Wall Street on Friday. Investors are nervousness about riskier assets ahead of an expected U.S. rate rise by the Federal Reserve later in the week. Japan's Nikkei 225 slumped more than 3% in early trade and was down 2.4% by late morning as falling commodity prices hit shares of energy companies and trading houses. South Korea's Kospi retreated 1%. Australian shares dropped 1% and Shanghai stocks dipped 0.2%.

A SGX Nifty 50 Index future for December delivery was down 50.50 points at 7,570. Indian market may remain bearish and fed rates will be in focus.