A flat start likely following cautious cues from Asian peers

The domestic markets may open the Tuesday’s session on a flat note as cues from the Asian peers are cautious. At the time of writing, the SGX Nifty was trading with a gain of 13 points at 11,524. The real estate stocks would be in focus in today’s session as the GST Council meeting is intended to undertake a range of topics on priority basis, including the implementation of lower Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates for the real estate sector. Also, on the macro front, investors will keep an eye on the current account deficit numbers which are due to be released today.  

The stocks in Asian region were trading cautiously on Tuesday morning, ahead of the two-day meeting of the FOMC, which is set to commence later in the day. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index has eked out a minor gain of 0.07 per cent, while the Japanese stock market Nikkei has lost 0.26 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite index has slipped 0.11 per cent.

Back home, the benchmark indices ended Monday’s session in the green and extended their upmove for the sixth straight day. However, in the second half of the trading session, the indices pared majority of the gains and ended the session off the day’s high amid profit-booking. The Nifty closed above 11,450, up by 0.31 per cent and the BSE Sensex gained 0.19 per cent. Divergent trends were seen in the broader markets with Nifty Smallcap adding 0.15 per cent and the Nifty Midcap losing 0.27 per cent. Majority of the sectoral indices ended in the green, barring Nifty Auto, Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma, while Nifty Realty surged over 2.8 per cent and ended as the top gainer. 

The US stocks displayed a choppy show on Monday but maintained a positive bias for a major part of the session. Market participants were seen somewhat reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy announcement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.25 per cent, the Nasdaq Composite index rose 0.34 per cent and S&P 500 index ended up 0.37 per cent.  

The European stocks ended mostly higher on Monday amid positive sentiment surrounding easing US-China trade concerns, which nevertheless were being overshadowed by the increased Brexit uncertainty. The speaker of the House of Commons in the UK has blocked the prime minister from asking MPs to vote on her Brexit deal for a third time, unless MPs are given a new motion. The FTSE 100 of the UK jumped 0.98 per cent, the DAX of Germany dipped 0.25 per cent and the CAC 40 edged up 0.14 per cent.