Mildly positive opening likely amid mixed cues from Asian peers

Indian markets may witness a modestly positive opening. The SGX Nifty, which was trading up by 27 points at 11,250, indicated that domestic bourses may open with an uptick at the opening bell. Among Nifty 50 companies, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries are set to declare their results today.  

Asian markets are trading mixed on the last trading session of the week following a mixed session on the Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is higher by 0.22 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index has shed 0.30 per cent, and China’s Shanghai Composite has decreased by 0.46 per cent.  

Back home, benchmark indices ended at their record highs on Thursday on the eve of July series F&O expiry. The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty touched a milestone as Sensex breached 37,000 mark for the first time ever to hit an intra-day high of 37,027, while Nifty managed to hit an intra-day record high as well. In the end, Nifty settled above the 11,150 mark and BSE Sensex closed at 36,975 levels. The broader markets followed their larger peers, with Nifty Mid-cap and Small-cap surging 0.59 per cent and 0.61 per cent, respectively. Talking about sectoral performance, the Nifty PSU Bank outperformed others by surging a whopping 5.45 per cent, followed by Nifty Financial Service and Nifty Bank. On the flip side, Nifty Media and Nifty Metal were top losers.  
  
The US stocks displayed mixed performance on Thursday with Dow registering smart gains, while Nasdaq tanked over a per cent, weighed down by sharp losses in the social media company Facebook as it posted its biggest one–day drop ever following lower-than-expected quarterly revenue, indicating slowing user growth and weak guidance. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 113 points to close at 25,527, while tech-laden Nasdaq Composite index sank 80 points to finish at 7,852 and the S&P 500 dipped 8 points to end at 2,837.   

The European shares surged on Thursday as the US and EU worked to reduce their trade differences. Meanwhile, the European Central Bank left its interest rates unchanged. The DAX of Germany jumped 1.83 per cent, CAC 40 of France rose 1 per cent and UK’s FTSE 100 gained 0.06 per cent.