Expect market to open flat tracking SGX Nifty

Indian equities market snapped a 6-day rally on Thursday amid weakness in their Asian and European peers, as investors booked profits at higher levels. The Sensex shed 171 points to end at 24,623 and the Nifty50 cracked below the 7,500-mark and lost 46 points to end at 7,486. Broader markets witnessed slightly lesser declines. BSE Midcap index declined 0.3% while Smallcap index slipped 0.2%.

The much awaited Real Estate Bill, which aims to protect the interests of buyers and bring more transparency to the sector, was passed in Rajya Sabha. The Bill will also curb undeclared "black money" in property markets that costs billions of dollars in lost taxable income. It will renew investors' confidence and ensure timely completion of projects and create more opportunities. In this way, it will help in achieving the target of “Housing For All”. The Cabinet also cleared an amendment in the new mining law that permits transfer of captive mines granted on discretion, as compared to the present scenario where transfer of mining lease is only for auctioned mines. Auction of non-coal mines was introduced in the new mining law. With the new amendment, the stuck M&A deals among cement companies could be moved in the right direction.

U.S. stocks gave up early gains on Thursday as investors dismissed new easing measures from the European Central Bank, and due to a decline in crude futures. The S&P 500 edged up 0.31 of a point to end at 1,989.57.The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 5.23 points, less than 0.1%, to 16,995.13. It was up as much as 130 points earlier in the day. The Nasdaq composite fell 12.22 points, or 0.3%, to 4,662.16.

In Europe, stocks gave back an early gain driven by a rate cut and other stimulus measures announced by the European Central Bank. The European Central Bank surprised financial markets by cutting the main refinancing rate to zero from 0.05%. It also reduced the interest rate on commercial bank deposits held at the Central Bank to minus 0.4% from minus 0.3%. It also expanded its monthly bond-buying program to 80 billion euros (USD 85 billion) a month from 60 billion euros. The Stoxx Europe 600 dropped 1.7% to close at 333.50. The DAX had been up by as much as 2.8% during the ECB-inspired rally. In Paris, the CAC 40 fell 1.7% to 4,350.35 after having jumped as much as 3.5%. As oil shares dropped, the U.K’s FTSE 100 was pushed down 1.8% to 6,036.70.

Oil prices settled lower on Thursday, retreating from their highest levels of the year that were reached a day earlier, ahead of the meeting on March 20 between oil producers to talk about global output freezes, which is now “unlikely to take place” as per market sources. Brent crude futures were down USD 1.02 at USD 40.05 a barrel; having earlier this week peaked at USD 41.48, the highest level since December 9. U.S. crude settled at USD 37.84 a barrel, down 45 cents, or 1.18%, having hit USD 38.51 on Tuesday, also it’s highest since December 9.

Most major Asian markets traded lower Friday morning, following a weaker finish on Wall Street overnight, and as traders are still to digest the European Central Bank's (ECB) stimulus announcements. Japan's Nikkei 225 index lost 0.90%. South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.2%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 and New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index dropped 0.1% each. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index traded flatly, while the Shanghai Composite index retreated 0.5%.

While on domestic front, A SGX Nifty 50 index future for March series traded flatly. Indian markets are likely to open flat, tracking subdued trading of Nifty on the Singapore Stock Exchange.