Markets may open flat tracking mixed cues from Asian peers

The outlook for the day is a flat start with negative bias in early trade. There could be jitters regarding the monsoon after the latest report from privately owned forecaster, Skymet, indicated that the monsoon to likely arrive in Kerala on June 4, rather than on June 1, the normal onset date for monsoon over Kerala. All four regions are going to witness lesser than normal rainfall this season. The delay in monsoon impacts sowing, agricultural output and rural demand. At the time of writing, the SGX Nifty was trading marginally lower by 20 points at 11,241 level. The results scheduled today are Amara Raja Batteries, Jubilant Food, Lupin, Manappuram, Petronet and Torrent Power.

The stocks in Asia were trading mixed in early trading on Wednesday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has gained 0.58 per cent, while the Japanese Nikkei 225 and China’s Shanghai Composite were trading flat with a negative bias.

Back home, benchmark indices snapped their nine-session losing streak with Nifty and BSE Sensex ending the session with gains of more than half a per cent each. The broader market indices ended in the green with Nifty Midcap and Smallcap adding 0.48 per cent and 0.71 per cent, respectively. Among the sectoral indices, barring Nifty IT, all other sectors witnessed buying interest, with Nifty PSU Banks and Nifty Pharma gaining the most.

The US stocks finished higher on Tuesday amid comments from President Donald Trump on expectations of a fruitful meeting with Chinese President Xi at the June G-20 summit. The Dow Industrial Average rose 0.8 per cent, the S&P 500 advanced 0.8 per cent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 1.1 per cent.

European stocks edged higher on Tuesday following optimism that the world’s two largest economies will work out a solution to end their trade dispute. Germany’s benchmark DAX added 0.82 per cent, France’s CAC 40 index jumped 1.41 per cent and the UK’s FTSE rose 0.95 per cent.