Nifty seen opening flat; eye on HDFC Bank and Reliance Ind. results

Indian equities indices ended flat on Thursday after hitting 2016 high in early trade. Banking stock rallied as the RBI finally relied on bad loan provisioning. The Central Bank has allowed banks to drop 20 companies like Jaiprakash Associates and Essar Steel to from the initial list of 150 defaulting firms. The Nifty snapped a six-day rally, slipping marginally by 2.70 points or 0.03% to close at 7,912.05; and and the Sensex was up 36.20 points at 25880.38. In the broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended nearly 0.5% lower.

U.S. stocks closed lower Thursday, breaking a three-day winning streak, as big declines associated with phone companies and utilities weighed on the main indexes. The Dow fell 113.75 points, or 0.6%, to 17982.52. The S&P 500 declined 10.92 points, or 0.5%, to 2091.48 and the Nasdaq Composite Index fell 2.24, or less than 0.1%, to 4945.89.

European stock markets ended in the mix on Thursday, after the European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold, as expected. The Stoxx Europe 600 index closed down 0.3% at 349.59. Germany’s DAX 30 index rose 0.1% to 10,435.73, while France’s CAC 40 index dropped 0.2% to 4,582.83. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index fell 0.5% to 6,381.44.

Asian markets opened lower on the final trading day of the week, following losses in U.S. stocks overnight. Japan's Nikkei 225 index is reversing the lower opening by 0.5% and currently trading flatly. South Korea’s Kospi index lost 0.25%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.15%. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index slid 0.45%. China’s Shanghai composite index reversed early losses and is trading flatly.

On domestic front, A SGX Nifty 50 index future for April series traded up by 8 points to 7,912. Indian markets are likely to open flat tracking SGX Nifty. Investors will be keeping an eye on HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries results due for release today.