Expect market to open on flat to negative note

For the holiday-shortened week, benchmark indices surged nearly 4% on hopes of robust monsoon; and positive key macro-economic data supported market sentiments last week. Markets remained closed on Thursday and Friday on account of Ambedkar Jayanti and Ram Navami, respectively. The Sensex recaptured the 25,000 mark by advancing 952.91 points, or 3.86% to 25,626.75 and the Nifty reclaimed 7,800 mark as the index gained 295.25 points or 3.91% to settle for the the week at 7850.45. Buying activity was also extended to Small and Midcap sectors. The BSE smallcap index surged 3.03%; and Midcap index rose by 2.61%.

U.S. stocks ended modestly lower on Friday, as energy companies sank with the price of oil, but the market finished higher for the week. On Friday, The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 29 points, or 0.2%, to 17897. The S&P 500 declined 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.2%. For the week, the Dow rose 1.8%; the S&P 500 index lost 0.1%; and the Nasdaq composite index was up 1.8%.

Doha oil meeting ended without a deal to freeze production, as Iran was absent; and Saudi Arabia refused to go along with the plan — which would have capped production at January levels for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as well as non-OPEC producers such as Russia. On Friday, WTI crude fell 2.7% to USD 40.36 a barrel following a report that Iran’s Oil Minister wouldn’t attend a meeting of oil producers in Doha on Sunday. Brent crude lost 74 cents, or 1.7%, to USD 43.10 a barrel. For the week, the price of oil rose 1.6%.

European stocks finished lower on Friday ahead of a key Oil Summit on Sunday. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.3% but still closed out the week around 3.3% higher. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.3% to 6,343.75, while Germany’s DAX 30 index dropped 0.4% to 10,051.57. France’s CAC 40 index lost 0.4% to 4,495.17.

Asian markets dropped Monday morning, as crude plunged, after oil talks ended without an agreement on limiting supplies. Tokyo shares dropped as investors assessed the impact of a devastating earthquake in southwestern Japan. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 3.1% as the yen rose to 108.11 per U.S. dollar. South Korea’s Kospi index lost 0.5%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.24%. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index showed minimal changes. Chinese stock market opened lower, with the Shanghai composite down 1.27%.

On domestic front, A SGX Nifty 50 index future for April series traded down 35 points to 7,896. Indian markets are likely to open in the flat to negative. IT may remain in focus after Infosys posted good results on Friday, along with FY17 guidance of 11.5-13.5%. TCS will declare its Q4 numbers later in the day.