The Indian equity benchmarks are set to stage a gap down opening as indicated by the Nifty futures traded on the Singapore Exchange. Nifty futures on Singapore Exchange (SGX Nifty) fell 1.67 per cent or 249 points to 14,632, indicating that the markets will see a big fall in the opening deals. Rising Covid-19 cases is likely to hamper the economic recovery of the country and is weighing on the investors’ sentiment, analysts said.
Meanwhile, Asian shares faltered on Monday as investors wait to see if U.S. earnings can justify sky-high valuations, while bond markets could be tested by what should be very strong readings for U.S. inflation and retail sales this week.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was off 0.6 per cent in slow trade. Tokyo’s Nikkei edged down 0.5 per cent, while South Korean stocks were near flat.
Chinese blue chips eased 0.9 per cent ahead of a rush of economic figures from the country.
The S&P 500 and the Dow posted modest gains on Friday, but the Nasdaq was lower, with interest-rate sensitive stocks losing ground as Treasury yields edged higher.
But all three major U.S. stock indexes were on track to post weekly gains as upbeat economic data boosted investor risk appetite ahead of the first-quarter earnings season.
Back home, Tata Consultancy Services will be in focus as it will report its March quarter and financial year 2021 earnings later in the day.
Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 653.51 crore and domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 271.26 crore on Friday.