Indian Market May Open Flat
Indian equities indices hitting a record high for the fifth consecutive day and gaining for the eight straight session on the back of strong capital inflows from global investors on the hopes of economic recovery and improvement in earnings in the coming quarters. Optimism created by US President Barack Obama's second visit to the country and India and the US agreed to have stronger economic and defence ties and the two countries took the civil nuclear deal forward.
The Sensex closed up by 1%, or 292.20 points, at 29,571.04 points, while the Nifty closed 0.85%, or 74.90 points higher, at 8,910.50 points. The Sensex gains 2,224 points, or 8.1%, in eight straight sessions, beginning January 15, when RBI announced a surprise 0.25% cut in its repo rate. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 84.80 points or 0.79% to settle at 10,780.47. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 58.39 points or 0.51% to settle at 11,424.48. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
U.S. stocks recorded their biggest decline in three weeks on Tuesday, following a surprise drop in durable-goods orders and some of the market's largest companies reported disappointing earnings. The weak data stoked fears that economic growth is decelerating. The companies that rattled the market included Microsoft, Caterpillar and Procter & Gamble. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by more than 2%, before recovering to 1.65% down. The Nasdaq was down 1.9% and the S&P 500 had lost 1.34%.
Durable-goods orders decline sharply in December. Economists had expected a modest rise, but orders fell 3.4% in December, dragged lower by a big decline in demand for commercial aircraft, and November data were also revised downward.
U.S. oil prices rose Tuesday to end a three-session slide, boosted by a weaker dollar and speculation about OPEC. WTI for February delivery settled up 2.4% at USD 46.23 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The front-month March contract for Brent crude settled up USD 1.44, or 3%, to USD 49.60 a barrel on London’s ICE Futures exchange.
Anxiety over Greece’s new anti-austerity leadership and unexpectedly poor US performance data weighed down European stock markets yesterday. Frankfurt’s DAX 30 index sank 1.57% to close at 10,628.58 points, while in Paris the CAC 40 shed 1.09% to 4,624.21 points. The pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 Index ended around 1%, while London's FTSE finished 0.6% lower. The Athens index closed at 783.53 points, shedding 3.69% from Monday’s 813.55 points.
Asian equity markets open lower on Wednesday followed Wall Street into the red. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index eased 0.28% while Japan’s Topix index drop of 0.26%. South Korea's Kospi index recovers and up by 0.1%. China’s stocks fell for a second day, led by property developers and coal companies. The Shanghai Composite Index slipped 1.3%.
SGX Nifty is trading in red and lowers by 22.5 points. Indian market may expect to open flat following muted trend seen in other Asian markets. Accelya Kale Solutions, Aban Offshore, Astral Poly Technik, Emami, Geometric, Havells, Justdial, Jyothy lab, Nocil, Pidilite, Ranbaxy, Sintex and Torrent Pharma would be reporting third quarter earnings today.