Markets likely to see tepid opening

Key benchmark indices may open slightly lower as cues from the global peers are subdued. The SGX Nifty is trading lower by 15 points at 10,454, indicating a flat start with a negative bias.  

Asian markets are showing mixed trend in early deals on Thursday after the US equities registered modest losses. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has edged up 59 points, Japan’s Nikkei 225 has lost 85 points and China’s Shanghai Composite has edged down 18 points. 

Back home, markets ended the four-day winning streak after fluctuating between gains and losses all through the trading session on Wednesday. However, broader markets saw sharp gains with Mid-Cap and Small-Cap indices gaining 0.63% and 0.39%, respectively. Sector-wise, Nifty Realty ended with solid gains of 2.95%. At the end of the day, Nifty settled at 10,444, down by 19 points and Sensex closed at 33,777, down by 59 points.  

In the US, markets showed a lack of direction over the course of the trading session and eventually ended the day marginally lower. The lacklustre trading on Wall Street came as market participants shrugged off news that Congressional Republicans had sent tax-cut legislation to President Donald Trump for his signature. The Dow slipped 28 points to close at 24,727; Nasdaq dipped 3 points to finish at 6,961 and the S&P 500 closed 2 points lower at 2,679. 

The European indices extended their losses on Wednesday. The DAX of Germany plunged 1.12%, CAC 40 of France slipped 0.56% and FTSE 100 of the UK closed down by 0.25%.