Markets may begin in upbeat mood following positive global cues

The outlook is an upbeat start for the Indian benchmark indices. The global markets seem to be in a good shape for now and fuelling the optimism is positive news on trade negotiations between the US and China. These countries have agreed to meet next month in Washington raising prospects for a breakthrough in de-escalating the long, nasty trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies. While in the initial trading, the bulls could jump in joy on the back of strong global cues, we believe the domestic concerns of slowdown will keep the gains under check and also weekend worries will prevail. At the time of writing, the SGX Nifty had gained 36 points and was trading at the 10,898 level.

The Asian stocks are seen in good spirits on Friday as the US and China have agreed to meet in Washington next month for another round of trade negotiations. The Japanese stock index Nikkei 225 was up by 0.60 per cent, China’s Shanghai Composite has risen 0.30 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has surged 0.63 per cent.

Back home, the markets opened the session on a positive note and strengthened further in the morning session. However, the markets took a U-turn and pared all of their gains to trade flat. In the second half, markets oscillated in a narrow range and ended Thursday’s session near the neutral line. The Nifty added 0.03 per cent, while BSE Sensex dipped 0.22 per cent. The broader market indices Nifty Midcap and Smallcap ended with gains of 0.30 per cent and 0.80 per cent, respectively. On the sectoral front, Nifty Metal and Nifty Auto were top performers. On the flip side, Nifty Realty declined the most, followed by Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Bank.

Adding to prior session gains, the US stocks advanced strongly on Thursday as the US and China had agreed to meet in Washington next month to resume high-level talks, giving trade optimism a shot in the arm and boosting sentiments. Further, the economic news was also encouraging as private sector reported stronger than expected job growth in August and ISM released a report showing the US service sector expanded at a stronger pace in August. The Dow advanced 1.4 per cent, the S&P 500 index soared 1.3 per cent and the Nasdaq Composite rose 1.8 per cent.

A majority of the European markets ended Thursday’s session in the green as the world’s two largest economies have agreed to hold new round of talks early next month. Germany’s DAX climbed up 0.85 per cent, France’s CAC 40 ended up 1.11 per cent, while UK’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.55 per cent.