India : Markets may open flat as compatriots take a breather

Indian benchmark indices got off to a cautious start on Thursday, and thereafter indices traded in a narrow range for most part of the trading session. However, volatility was witnessed during the dying movements as markets snapped their three days winning streak. The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index, Nifty, slipped by 10 points to end below the psychological 9350 level; while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index — Sensex, declined by over one hundred points to finish below its psychological 30100 mark.The European markets ended Thursday’s session in the red, ending a six session winning streak. Market participants were disappointed after the European Central Bank (ECB) again made no changes to its monetary policy, while the U.S. Federal Reserve has been hiking interest rates. The DAX of Germany fell 0.23 per cent and the CAC 40 of France dropped 0.31 per cent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.71 per cent.Moderate gains in the technology sector helped the Nasdaq Composite to close at a record high on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite gained 24 points to close at 6049. The Dow Jones closed flat at 20,981; and the S&P 500 index closed flat with a positive bias at 2,388.Asian markets are trading subdued on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 shed 38 points.  China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 6 points and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 52 points.At 8:05 am, SGX Nifty Index was trading with modest gains of 5 points at 9365, indicating a flat start for the Indian Stock Markets.