Markets likely to open in the red amid negative global cues

Indian equities are expected to open lower amid negative global cues. The Nifty 50 index future on the Singapore stock exchange is currently trading down by 10 points at 10,936. On the earnings front, today will be a busy day as more than 20 companies are due to announces their quarterly earnings, including ZEEL, Tata Sponge, Ashok Leyland, Rallis India, Federal Bank, Nucleus Software, Sintex Industries, Muthoot Capital Services, etc.  

Asian share markets are under pressure on Tuesday with Japan’s Nikkei 225 being the lone gainer in the region, gaining 0.56%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index has lost 1.14% and China’s Shanghai Composite has slipped 1.02%.  

Back home, Indian equity benchmarks opened flat but tumbled at the very next moment, and as the day progressed, the selling pressure intensified as Wholesale Price Index (WPI) shot to four-and-half-year high of 5.7 per cent in June on the back of increasing prices of vegetables and fuel items. Even the Tata majors, Tata Steel and Tata Motors contributed to the southward movement. The broader markets witnessed merciless hammering down as Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap indices slumped 2.57 per cent and 3.08 per cent, respectively. Sectorally, barring Nifty IT, which closed 0.57 per cent up, all other sectors ended in the red, with pharma, metal and realty at the forefront of the move, shedding more than 3 per cent each. 

The US stock markets struggled for direction on Monday and ended the session on a mixed note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average marked its third gain in a row, while the Nasdaq Composite Index and S&P 500 ended with minor losses. The quarterly earnings have failed to inspire investors, while market players also kept a watch on development between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as the two leaders met on neutral ground in Helsinki, Finland, but the reaction to a joint conference with the two leaders was muted. The Dow gained 45 points to close at 25,064, the Nasdaq dipped 20 points to end at 7,806 and the S&P 500 shed 3 points to finish at 2,798.  

Majority of the European markets ended Monday’s trading session in the red. Deutsche Bank was in the limelight as its stock soared up more than 7 per cent after reporting better-than-expected second quarter earnings. The DAX of Germany rose 0.16%, but the CAC 40 of France fell 0.36% and the UK’s FTSE 100 finished lower by 0.80%.