Markets expect to witness muted start and remain volatile amid weekly expiry

The bulls on Dalal Street seem exhausted in the last trading session and as result Indian markets halted its five-day bull run.  As bulls managed to recoup some of the losses in the last leg of trade, the correction was not too acute. But the signs of exhaustion were clearly visible. The Nifty faced its real resistance around 11,200-11,230 levels. Having said that, Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) continued with their buying streak as they bought shares worth of Rs 1,665.57 crore whereas, Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) sold shares worth of Rs 1138.83 crore on Wednesday.

Speaking about Today’s trade, the cues from global markets are mildly optimistic. Hence, at 7:50 AM, SGX Nifty is trading just above its neutral line with modest gains of 5.50 points suggesting a flat to positive opening. However, the markets seem to have gripped the concerns over record rise in coronavirus cases as 45,000 new cases were recorded on Wednesday taking the tally of total cases beyond the grim landmark of 12 lakh cases. Further, some of the states like Maharashtra reported the its highest single-day spike of new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. This will certainly raise the doubt of whether the lockdown will be lifted on July 31. Moreover, Thursday being the weekly expiry, markets are likely to witness spike in volatility as the day progresses.

Today, on the earnings front, key stocks such as Biocon, HDFC AMC, Mphasis and Radico are slated to report their quarterly earnings.

On back of positive close on Wall Street overnight and Dow crossing the milestone of 27,000 level, majority of the Asian indices are trading with an uptick on Thursday. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was trading up by 0.54 per cent and China’s Shanghai Composite is up with modest gains of 0.08 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei 225 is closed Today on account of Marine Day (National Holiday).

Asian Markets

Key benchmark indices ended its five-day winning streak on Wednesday recording modest losses. The sentiments on D-Street were dented due to escalation of tension between US and China. At closing bell, Nifty and Sensex lost 0.27 per cent and 0.16 per cent, respectively. A Divergent trend was seen in broader markets as Nifty Mid-cap added 0.14 per cent whereas, Nifty Small-cap dropped 0.01 per cent.  On sectoral front, most of the sectors ended with losses. Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Auto were the major decliners. Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Media ended as top gainers.

On Wednesday, US ordered China to close its diplomatic consulate in Houston by Friday that further elevated US and China tensions. However, after initial hustle, stocks on Wall Street ascended higher in the late afternoon session and ended the session in green. With the delayed upmove, Dow registered its best closing level in over a month. Whereas, S&P 500 recorded a new five-month closing high. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales rebounded at a record pace in June, dictating strong signs of a market turnaround post three consecutive months of sales decline amid pandemic. This led to surge on Wall Street in the late afternoon trade. Meanwhile, in European region the optimism of the recovery package started to fade amid rise in new cases of coronavirus pushing market participants on the back foot.

US Markets

Europe Markets

Commodity