Markets await Union budget for triggers
Friday morning has nothing positive to offer for the markets given the subdued and muted global sentiments. Yes, all eyes will be on the Union budget as this year, for the first time ever in the Indian history, a woman is the full-time Finance Minister of India who will be presenting the budget. With the current economic scenario being bleak, it remains to be seen whether Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman can restore consumer confidence and turn the tide. A positive budget could help the markets to break above the psychological levels, while any announcement which may not go down well with the market participants will trigger volatility. At the time of writing, the SGX Nifty was trading just below the dotted line down by 5 points at 11,974 level.
Most of the markets in Asia are trading with marginal losses on Friday in the absence of any cues from the US markets, which were shut overnight for a holiday. The Japanese stock index Nikkei 225 has dipped 0.07 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has shed 0.17 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite was down 0.02 per cent.
Back home, markets experienced yet another day of dull action on Thursday as, after starting the day with gains, markets made some progress. However, in the last leg of trading, markets came off from their highs to close with modest gains. The Nifty added 0.25 per cent to close at 11,947 and the BSE Sensex rose 0.17 per cent to close at 39,908. The broader market indices exhibited a divergent trend as Nifty Smallcap index surged 0.48 per cent, while Nifty Midcap closed with a miniscule loss of 0.03 per cent. Among the sectoral indices, the Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Realty were top gainers, while Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma were top losers.
The US stock markets were closed on Thursday, July 4, as Americans observed federal holiday on the Independence Day.
The European indices were seen trading mixed on Thursday. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 registered a modest gains of 0.11 per cent and 0.03 per cent, respectively, while UK’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.08 per cent.