Markets open flat; investors cautious ahead of key results

Indian stock markets opened flat but in the green on Thursday tracking cautious movement in other Asian marketsInvestors continued to focus on the ongoing firstquarter earnings season which remains the primary driver for market sentimentThe Nifty 50 index opened at 2523075 gaining 1870 points or 007 per cent while the BSE Sensex began the session at 8275353 up by 11905 points or 014 per centBanking and market expert Ajay Bagga told ANI Will he wont he was the drama moving markets yesterday At first a White House aide revealed that Trump is going to fire Fed Chair Powell and has discussed it with lawmakers Markets fell the US dollar fell and Treasury yields went up Then after seeing the market reaction Trump said he is not going to fire Powell Markets recovered But Trump added a footnote saying unless Powell is held responsible for fraud Markets started coasting holding their breath This drama is consuming a lot of attention when there is a host of positives which should be taking the markets upHe further added Indian markets are finding it tough to catch the retail flows and soar due to the continued FPI pessimism with FPI net short positions once again past the 80 per cent What is needed is a boost to the economy via GST cuts and a fiscal stimulus Neither is seen on the horizon One hope is the huge road contracts that NHAI is going to start signing This will boost employment cement steel construction and infrastructure stocks Banks should benefit as wellIn a major development on the global trade front US President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with Indonesia Jakarta will now pay a reduced 19 per cent tariff on its exports to the US down from the 32 per cent levies announced last week following talks with WashingtonAmong broader market indices on the NSE all major indices except the Nifty 100 opened in green The Nifty Midcap 100 rose by 015 per cent while the Nifty Smallcap 100 gained 032 per cent at the time of filing this reportIn the sectoral indices Nifty Auto gained 025 per cent Nifty FMCG and Capital Goods rose 014 per cent Nifty Media was up 020 per cent Nifty Metal surged 026 per cent Nifty Pharma rose 058 per cent and Nifty Realty surged 111 per cent Nifty IT was slightly down by 001 per centShrikant Chouhan Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities said We believe 2510082300 will remain a key support zone for traders As long as the market remains above this level the bullish trend is likely to persist On the upside the market could bounce back to the 20day SMA or 2535083200 Further upside could even take the market to 2550083800 Conversely below 2510082300 the trend may change If the market moves below this level it may fall towards the 50day SMA or the 25000249008200081700 zoneSeveral major companies are scheduled to announce their Q1 results today These include Axis Bank Wipro Jio Financial Services LTIMindtree HDFC Asset Management Company Indian Hotels Company Polycab India Tata Communications 360 ONE WAM LMW Ceat Clean Science amp Technology Newgen Software Technologies Nuvoco Vistas Corporation Waaree Renewable Technologies and Alok IndustriesIn other Asian markets a mixed trend was visible Japans Nikkei 225 was down by 015 per cent Singapores Straits Times gained 031 per cent Hong Kongs Hang Seng declined 016 per cent Taiwans Weighted Index was flat in green and South Koreas KOSPI slipped by 035 per centThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever