EQUITY PRE MARKER REPORT, Bearish opening seen for Sensex on Asia weakness 19/08/2016

Pre Session- Bearish opening seen for Sensex on Asia weakness
19/08/2016

Indian equity benchmarks are likely to witness a gap down opening on Friday tracking a negative trend across markets in Asia as renewed fears over a US interest rate hike in the near-term after comments from a top Fed official who backed the case for a rate hike soon, curbed risk taking appetite. Tightening of US monetary policy may result in volatility in capital flows to emerging markets such as Asia’s third biggest economy. Losses in the CNX Nifty Index Futures for August delivery which was trading at 8,668, down by 0.17 per cent or 15 points at 10:38 AM Singapore time, signal that the Sensex may open lower today. In the absence of any major domestic triggers, Dalal Street is expected to witness some consolidation in the near-term. Meanwhile, the Indian government is yet to pick the next governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), even as Raghuram Rajan, the incumbent edges closer to the end of his three-year tenure in the post. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that a decision on who will fill Rajan’s shoes is yet to be taken. Snapping a two-day losing streak, the 30-share Sensex on Thursday advanced 118.07 points or by 0.42 per cent to 28,123.44 tracking firm global cues as Fed minutes showed that officials were split on the need to raise borrowing costs in the near-term.

Asian stocks fell today even as crude oil entered a bull market, holding above USD 48 per barrel, driving a rally in raw material producers. Sentiment was hit by fresh worries over a near-term US rate hike as Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams stressed that the world’s biggest economy is strong enough to warrant a rise in interest rates soon, warning against waiting too long which could spur high inflation or asset bubbles that may curb growth. Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng fell, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was trading lower despite yen weakness. US stocks advanced on Thursday as energy stocks were boosted by an oil rally while a drop in jobless claims and acceleration in US leading index signaled a pickup in the country’s economic growth. US jobless claims fell 4,000 to 262,000 last week while a leading index rose 0.4 per cent in July from June, when it climbed 0.3 per cent.