Markets may begin flat following subdued cues from Asian peers

The Indian markets may begin the fresh week on a flat note as in early trade, the SGX Nifty is trading almost unchanged at the level of 11,832. On Friday, due to the selling spree in the last leg of trading, Nifty for the first time after May 6 closed below its important short term 20-DMA. Now, going forward, all eyes will be on the level of 11,770, a very crucial support level which the bulls need to defend. Investors will keep an eye on the current account numbers due today.

The Asian stock indices are seen trading with modest gains on Monday defying modest losses posted on the Wall Street on Friday. The Japanese stock index Nikkei 225 has added 0.02 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has surged 0.64 per cent and the Kospi has advanced 0.15 per cent.   

Back home, the markets made a subdued start on the final trading session of the week and, thereafter, the key equity benchmarks traded in a range-bound mode with a negative bias for a major part of the session. It was only at the fag end of the session that a sharp sell-off was seen as traders turned jittery over reports of India imposing retaliatory tariffs on 29 US products. The Nifty dropped 0.76 per cent to 11,823 and the BSE Sensex slipped 0.73 per cent to end at 39,452. In the broader market, the Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices were down by 0.92 per cent and 0.80 per cent, respectively. All the Nifty sectoral indices ended the session with losses. Nifty Media and Nifty Realty ended lower by over 2 per cent and were among the top losers.

The US stocks after an initial set-back managed to regain some lost ground late in the session, but ended the session in the red. On Friday, the Dow and S&P 500 were marginally lower, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq underperformed its counterparts as semiconductor manufacturer Broadcom sent the tech stocks lower as the company lowered its full-year revenue guidance. The Nasdaq ended the session lower by 0.5 per cent.

The European stock markets closed with losses on Friday amid Middle East tension and as the International Energy Agency (IEA) cuts its estimate for global oil demand growth. France’s CAC 40 index and Germany’s DAX edged down by 0.31 per cent and 0.60 per cent, respectively, while UK’s FTSE 100 dipped 0.15 per cent.