At 7:30 am, the Nifty futures were trading lower by 0.17 per cent on the Singapore Stock Exchange
The domestic stock markets are likely to open in the red, after the nearly 2 per cent losses in the previous session as concerns about extended economic lockdowns in Europe continue to make investors jittery across the global markets. The sudden spike in Covid-19 cases India in the past one week is also spooking the bulls on Dalal Street. Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the index in India, with a 29-points loss. At 7:30 am, the Nifty futures were trading at 14,531, lower by 29 points or 0.17 per cent on the Singapore Stock Exchange.
Overnight, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.01 per cent and S&P 500 lost 0.55 per cent, unable to halt the prior day’s sell-off, as investors set aside economic optimism by Fed Chair Jerome Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Asian markets will likely open mixed on Thursday after global equities dipped and U.S. investors considered which stock market sectors would most benefit from strengthening growth.
Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures lost 0.18 per cent in early trading and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures lost 0.42 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 futures rose 0.39 per cent.
Meanwhile, oil prices skidded around 2 per cent as fuel demand concerns re-emerged alongside fresh coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, trimming overnight gains spurred by the grounding of a giant container ship blocking crude shipments through the Suez Canal.
Brent crude futures slid $1.14, or 1.8 per cent, to $63.27 a barrel at 0139 GMT, after jumping 6 per cent overnight. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures dropped by $1.27, or 2.1 per cent, to $59.91 a barrel, after climbing 5.9 per cent overnight.
On Wednesday, the BSE Sensex plunged 871.13 points, or 1.74 per cent, to 49,180.31 and the NSE Nifty decined 265.40 points, or 1.79 per cent, to 14,549.40.