Markets likely to open with a gap-up

Indian markets are expected to open with solid gains. The SGX Nifty is trading firm with gains of 57 points at 10,278, indicating a gap-up start at the opening bell. Today, the voters in Gujarat will vote in the second phase of the Gujarat assembly election 2017.  

Asian stock markets are trading mixed in the opening deals on Thursday.  Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has gained 12 points, whereas Japan’s Nikkei 225 has dipped 32 points and China’s Shanghai Composite has shed 7 points. 

Back home, markets witnessed a roller coaster ride on Wednesday. After starting the day on a weak note, markets thereafter surged higher to hit intra-day high levels, but post the mid-session, intense sell-off was seen which took markets to fresh lows. Broader indices continued their losing streak for second consecutive session and Nifty Mid-Cap and Small-cap indices ended lower by 0.96% and 1.24%, respectively. Sector-wise, barring Nifty Media, all other sectors ended in the red. At the end of the day, Nifty ended down by 0.46% at 10,193 and BSE Sensex closed at 33,053, down by 0.53%.  

In the US, the Dow closed at a record high on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates as had been widely expected and raised its US gross domestic product growth target for 2018 to 2.5% from 2.1%. The S&P 500 ended with just below the neutral line and the Nasdaq Composite rose 13 points to finish at 6,876.  

The European indices ended Wednesday’s session with losses. The DAX of Germany lost 0.44%, CAC 40 of France slipped 0.51% and FTSE 100 of the UK declined 0.05%.