Indian Markets Are Likely To Open Flat

Indian equities indices fell for the fifth day in a row on Tuesday. Indices which opened with smart gains and kept going strongly throughout the day but it finally ended marginally in negative. Banks continued to see selling pressure while pharma and oil stocks saw buying interest. After rising over 260 points, the Sensex erased all gains and settled 30 points down yesterday to over nine-week low of 28,161.72. On similar lines, the Nifty ended with a loss of 7.95 points to settle at 8,542.95. The broader markets underperformed the benchmark indices with BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices slipping 0.44% and 0.64% each respectively.

U.S. stocks declined for the second straight day on Tuesday as investors grappled with a batch of better-than-expected economic reports that suggest a rate hike may be nearing. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 104 points, or 0.6%, to close at 18,011 on Tuesday. The S&P 500 index dipped 12 points, also 0.6%, to 2,091. The Nasdaq lost 16 points, or 0.3%, to 4,994.

Consumer prices climbed 0.2% in February, reversing a 0.7% decline a month earlier, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said Monday. The increase in the headline number was the first in four months and came in as expected. Core CPI, excluding energy and food items, rose 0.2%, double what economists were expecting.

U.S. new home sales in February came in far higher than expected, despite the dampening effect of winter weather. Home sales climbed to their highest level since February 2008, up 7.8% month of month to an annual rate of 539,000. Economists had expected 460,000.

European equities rose on Tuesday as investors reacted to fresh economic data from the euro zone. The Stoxx Europe 600 swung up 0.3% to 402.49. Germany's DAX index closed around 1% higher; France's benchmark CAC was roughly 0.8% higher. The benchmark FTSE 100 ended a six-day winning streak that has seen it burst through the 7,000 mark despite a brief rally as investors cheered official figures showing UK inflation fell to zero last month for the first time on record.

Asian equity markets traded mixed early Wednesday, caught between conflicting signals from lower Wall Street and higher euro zone shares, while the dollar held to modest gains after a rise in U.S. consumer inflation. Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell into negative territory by 0.1% as the yen strengthened modestly to 119.66. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.1%. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index slipped 0.1%. South Korea’s Kospi index was little changed. China's Shanghai Composite opened down 0.2%, seemingly set to snap a ten-session winning streak.

SGX Nifty is trading at flat. Indian markets are likely to open flat. Markets will remain volatile as traders will unwind positions due to derivative expiry of March contract and fiscal-year profit booking. The next major trigger for the Indian markets is Q4 results which will start during second week of April, 2015.