Indian markets may witness another weak opening

Indian equities markets declined after four successive rally on Tuesday. Meanwhile Nifty was able to sustain 7100 level. The Sensex decreased 378.61 points or 1.59% quoting 23410.18; and the Nifty upped 125 points or 1.73% quoting 7109.55.Overall sectoral indices witnessed weak during entire session on Tuesday. Banking index declined most by 2.82% during the session.

The Dow Jones industrial average decreased 188.88 points, or 1.14%, quoting 16431.78. The S&P 500 index also reduced 24.23 points, quoting 1921.27. The crude oil prices declined as production freeze may be delayed further. The U.S. benchmark crude, WTI decreased 1.35% to USD 31.43, while Brent crude, the international standard, also fell 4.09% to USD 33.27.

Iran may reconsider the production freeze agreement put forward by Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Qatar put on the country. According to Saudi Arabia too production cuts will not happen and freeze could be discussed at a possible meeting of oil producers in month of March. Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute (API) data showed big rise in crude inventory i.e. 7.1 million barrels of crude oil.

European stocks joined the global weakness. Germany's main index, the DAX, dropped 1.64% to 9416.77 along with France's CAC 40, which too declined 1.40% to 4238.42. Britain's FTSE 100 decreased 1.25% quoting 5962.31.

Markets in Asia traded bearish on weak global cues during the morning session on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index declined by 0.79%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell by 1.16% while New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index increased 0.73%. South Korea’s KOSPI also reduced 0.39%. The Shanghai Composite index opened gap down by 0.46% and is trading at 0.47 per cent up. The Hang Seng Index too down 0.40% on Hong Kong’s budget day.

While on domestic front, A SGX Nifty 50 index future for February series traded down by 6.5 points at 7102. The Indian markets may stay range bound ahead of expiry of February derivative contracts due and Railway Budget on February 25.