Sensex, Nifty Likely To Have A Firm Opening
The domestic stock markets are likely to open in the green, a day after plunging more than 2 per cent, going by early indications from Singapore Nifty futures trading. Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a positive opening for the index in India, with a 60 points gain. At 7:30 am, the Nifty futures were trading at 11,426, higher by 60 points or 0.6 per cent, on the Singapore Stock Exchange.
Asian stocks were set to weaken on Tuesday following a softer Wall Street close, while the dollar slipped as markets digested new Federal Reserve comments that suggested rates will stay low for an extended period.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.89 per cent in early trading, while Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.22 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures lost 0.38 per cent.
In US markets overnight, the S&P ended Monday slightly lower after registering its steepest August percentage gain in more than three decades. The Dow also lost ground as investors took a pause, although the Nasdaq closed higher thanks to high-flying stocks including Apple Inc.
The Dow Jones fell 0.78 per cent and S&P 500 lost 0.22 per cent. However, Nasdaq Composite added 0.68 per cent.
On the economic front, India's gross domestic product or GDP contracted 23.9 per cent in the April-June period - much worse than economists' estimates, official data showed post market hours on Monday, as the coronavirus pandemic brought key industries to a halt and rendered millions of people jobless.
Oil prices rose in early trade on Tuesday, reversing overnight losses, as investors shifted to risk assets and out of the safe-haven U.S. dollar, which slid to a more than two-year low.
Brent crude futures climbed 27 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $45.55 a barrel at 0055 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 21 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $42.82 a barrel.
On Monday, the BSE Sensex had corrected 839.02 points or 2.13 per cent to 38,628.29 and Nifty had shed 260.10 points or 2.23 per cent to 11,387.50.
