Markets may open on a cautious note

Indian markets are likely to make a soft-to-cautious start as the cues from the Asian peers are mixed. The SGX Nifty is trading with modest loss of 5 points, indicating that Nifty could open at 10,342 at the opening bell.  Important macroeconomic data like the IIP and inflation numbers are expected to released later in the day. 

The markets in Asia struggled to find a direction in early deals on Tuesday.  Japan’s Nikkei 225 has climbed 6 points, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 2 points, while China’s Shanghai Composite has shed 9 points. 

Back home, key benchmark indices gained for the third day in a row on Monday. Broader indices also kept the momentum along with the benchmark indices as Nifty Mid-cap and Small-Cap edged higher by 0.53% and 0.41%, respectively. Sector-wise, Nifty IT was the best performing sector as it rose 1.35%, followed by Nifty PSU Bank. At the end of the day, Nifty gained 0.55% to finish above the 10,300-mark and Sensex climbed 0.62% to close at 33,456.  

In the US, stocks started off the week on a positive note on Monday with the Dow and S&P 500 closing at record levels on the back of a rally in telecom and technology stocks. The next big trigger for the markets will be the Fed meet and a rate hike of 25 basis points has been already factored in. Market participants will be waiting for the guidance for the next year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 57 points to close at 24,386, Nasdaq surged 35 points to finish at 6,875 and the S&P 500 added 8 points to end the day at 2,660.  

The first trading session of the new trading week turned out to be a mixed bag for the European markets, with the FTSE 100 of the U.K. outperforming the rest of the European markets as it rose 0.80%. However, the DAX of Germany and the CAC 40 of France shed 0.23% and 0.23%, respectively.