Benchmarks may open flat to negative as peers see profit booking

Indian benchmark indices got off to a gap-up opening on Wednesday as investors were largely influenced by supportive leads from global markets. Buying momentum continued and indices extended rally, however, optimism soon started fading in the late afternoon session, and in the last hour of trade indices staged a smart recovery from lower levels to end near day's high. Eventually, the NSE's 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, rallied by close to half a per cent to settle above the crucial 9350 support level; while Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index, Sensex, added close to two hundred points and closed above the psychological 30,100 mark.

The European markets witnessed a choppy trading session on Wednesday, but in the end, the markets finished with modest gains. Investors were in a cautious mood ahead of meeting of the European Central Bank. The DAX of Germany climbed 0.05 per cent and the CAC 40 of France rose 0.19 per cent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. gained 0.18 per cent.  

U.S. stocks retreated from intraday highs on Wednesday, to close fractionally lower after an outline of President, Donald Trump’s tax plan was seen as a light on detail. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 21 points at 20,975. The Nasdaq Composite Index closed virtually unchanged. The S&P 500 closed at 2,387 with loss of 1 point.  

Asian markets witnessed profit booking on Thursday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 48 points. China’s Shanghai Composite plunged 31 points and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 88 points.

At 8:03 am, SGX Nifty Index was trading with losses of 9.50 points at 9178, indicating a flat to negative start for the Indian markets.  Big names like Maruti, Reliance Capital, TVS Motor, Kotak Bank are slated to report their earnings for quarter ended March 2017. Additionally, we have April Series F&O expiry today.