Markets may open lower but are likely to remain in the zone

Consolidation continued in the markets for the fourth consecutive session. Despite of positive opening markets witnessed lower tops lower bottoms amid selling pressure in the European markets. Nifty and Sensex closed marginally down where Sensex hit below 28000 mark. Broader markets underperformed. Only the FMCG sector outperformed exceptionally, driven by ITC that closed 4 per cent up.

US markets specifically Dow saw its consecutive 7^th downbeat where it tumbled 0.5 per cent followed by US crude sliding below 40 USD/barrel at 39.51 USD/barrel. WTI fell even more by 3 per cent. Nasdaq too gave up its 5 days winning streak and closed 0.9 per cent down. S&P 500 too fell by 0.64 per cent driven down by consumer discretionary stocks.

European markets continued with previous day’s fall and closed lower where banks dragged the indices over the concerns of stress test results and health of the lenders. The Germany’s main index DAX closed down by 1.8 per cent and France’s CAC40 too dropped sharply by 1.84 per cent. Meanwhile Britain's FTSE too remained negative with 0.73 per cent losses.

Asian markets specifically Japanese markets kicked off on a lower note where Yen has appreciated further amid disappointment with the BOJ’s stimulus package. Japan’s Nikkei has fallen 0.7 per cent. Hang Seng has tumbled even more by 1.7 per cent. China’s Shanghai Composite is flat. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was off by 1 per cent after major banks sold off when the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rate by another 25 basis points to 1.5 per cent. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 is marginally down with 0.4 per cent losses. South Korea’s KOSPI is down with 0.7% losses.