Market likely to open in red; eyes on China’s economic data

Indian equities markets extended their winning streak to the fourth day and posted their best weekly gains in percentage terms since December 2011 after a sharp rally in the stock market post the Budget announcement and prospects of a policy rate cut improved. The Sensex closed up 39.49 points, or 0.16%, at 24,646.48 points on Friday, while the Nifty 50 closed up 9.75 points, or 0.13%, at 7,485.35 points. For the week, the Sensex gained 1,492.18 points, or 6.44%, while the Nifty advanced 455.60 points, or 6.48%, in the same period. The BSE Mid and Small cap indices too gained 6.5% and 7.6%, respectively during the week. The rupee has rallied 2.2% in last week at 67.14 a dollar.

U.S. stocks were low throughout the day but managed to eke out modest gains on Monday, allowing the S&P 500 and Dow industrials to extend their winning streak to five straight sessions, as oil prices rose. The Dow Jones industrial average increased 67.18 points, or 0.4%, to 17,073.95. The S&P 500 edged up 1.77 points to 2,001.76. The Nasdaq composite gave up 8.77 points, or 0.2% to 4,708.25.

Oil prices continued to rally on Monday after last week's solid gains as data showed oil producers are cutting output amid low prices. Benchmark U.S. crude added USD 1.98, or 5.5%, to close at USD 37.90 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude rose USD 2.12 or 5.5% to USD 40.84 a barrel.

European markets finished mostly in the red on Monday despite a strong recovery in oil prices as gloomy German economic data and a warning about global Central Bank effectiveness dampened sentiment ahead of the European Central Bank’s highly anticipated policy decision later this week. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.3% to end at 340.93. Germany’s DAX 30 lost 0.5% to settle at 9,778.93. France’s CAC 40 gave up 0.3% to finish at 4,442.29. The U.K’s FTSE 100 fell 0.3% to end at 6,182.40.

Major markets in Asia traded lower on Tuesday on account of the economic data from China. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 traded down 1.9%, extending Monday's 0.6% drop. South Korea’s Kospi index was lower by 1.1%; in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index slid 0.80% in early trade. Chinese markets also traded lower, with the Shanghai composite falling 2.9%. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shedded early gains and now traded down 0.50%.

While on domestic front, A SGX Nifty 50 index future for March series traded down 29 points at 7,488. Indian markets are likely to open in red following other Asian markets. Investor’s will keep an eye on China’s economic data.