Markets may open gap-down on negative global cues

Key Indian equity indices may open significantly lower as Asian markets were pressured in early trade and overnight fall on the Wall Street. The SGX Nifty indicates that Nifty could fall 50 points and open around 10,326 at the opening bell.

The stocks of companies like Bosch, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Balaji Telefilms, Bank of Maharashtra, Motherson Sumi Systems, Mahindra and Mahindra, MRF, Nestle, Sobha, Sun TV, Cochin Shipyard, Jain Irrigation, DLF and Suzlon will be in focus today as these companies are expected to announce earnings today.

Asian equity benchmarks are trading lower in the early deals on Friday, following negative cues from Wall Street. The Nikkei 225 has plunged 313 points, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has contracted 38 points and the China’s Shanghai Composite has slipped 4 points.

Back home, key benchmark indices snapped their two-day losing streak to end with modest gains on Thursday. Broader indices followed the frontline indices and the Nifty Mid–Cap and Small-Cap indices registered gains of 1.19% and 0.82%, respectively. Sector-wise, Nifty PSU Banks climbed 1.55% followed by Nifty Metal. On the flipside, Nifty Pharma registered loss of 0.62%. At the end of the day, Nifty rose about 6 points to close at 10,309 and the BSE Sensex added 32 points to finish at 33,251.

The US stocks climbed off their worst levels of the day but still ended Thursday’s session firmly in the negative territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 101 points to settle at 23,462, Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 39 points to finish at 6,750 and the S&P dipped 10 points to close at 2,585. The decline on the Wall Street came as market participants reacted to reports regarding the Senate version of tax legislation. The tax legislation unveiled by Senate Republicans indicated it would delay a cut in corporate rate until 2019, as opposed to next year as proposed by House Republicans.

European indices ended Thursday’s session in the red. The German DAX index dropped 1.49% and the French CAC 40 index fell 1.16% and the FTSE 100 of the UK dipped 0.61%.