Market likely to open on a weak note ahead of ECB & OPEC meets

After a day’s pause, Indian equities indices ended higher on Wednesday as buying activity re-emerged on robust GDP numbers and core infrastructure sector growth. Growth in the eight core sectors jumped to 8.5% in April, on account of a sharp pick-up in refinery products and a commensurate rise in electricity generation. The Sensex closed 0.17%, or 45.97 points higher at 26,713.93 and the Nifty closed 0.24%, or 19.85 points higher at 8,179.95; while the BSE Midcap underperformed, falling 0.30% in late trade.

US stocks eked out a small gain Wednesday reversing sharp losses from earlier in the session, as investors focused on the positive aspects of the latest batch of data that showed the U.S. economy plodding along. The S&P 500 edged up 2.37 points, or 0.1%, to close at 2,099.33. The Dow Jones Industrial Average recovered from a more than 120-point drop to end 2.47 points higher, or less than 0.1%, at 17,789.67. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite rose 4.20 points, or 0.1%, to close at 4,952.25.

European stocks finished lower Wednesday, as sharp declines from European banks and miners weighed on sentiment, ahead of a number of key policy events due to be out later this week. The downbeat data on China’s factories also weighed on global markets. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 1% to end at 344.12. Germany’s DAX 30 lost 0.6% to end at 10,204.44, and France’s CAC 40 shed 0.7%, falling to 4,475.39. The U.K’s FTSE 100 shed 0.6% to finish at 6,191.93.

Mostly Asian markets opened lower on Thursday led by Japan's Nikkei, which tumbled after the government's move to delay a sales-tax hike for more than two years. Japan's Nikkei 225 index shed 2.18%, extending Wednesday's losses of 1.62%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.83%, while the Kospi index traded flat. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index also slipped 0.12%, following a 0.2% drop on Wednesday. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.10% after hovering around the flat line.

On the domestic front, A SGX Nifty 50 index future for June series is trading down by 23.5 points at 8,179. Indian markets are likely to open weak, ahead of ECB and OPEC meets.