Equities in other Asian marketsstarted the day on the backfoot

Domestic stock markets are likely to start the week on a negative note tracking weakness in global equities amid fears about a second wave of COVID-19 infections. The Singapore Exchange (SGX) Nifty futures – an early indicator of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty index – declined as much as 1.83 per cent – or 182 points – to hit 9,760.00 on the downside ahead of the opening of Indian markets. At 8:04 am, the SGX Nifty futures traded 79.50 points – or 0.80 per cent – lower at 9,862.50.

Equities in other Asian markets started the day on the backfoot while oil prices slipped as fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections in China sent investors scurrying for safe-havens.

While MSCI’s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was last seen trading 0.66 per cent lower, Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark was down 0.55 per cent.

China’s Shanghai Composite, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and South Korea’s KOSPI indices were down 0.13 per cent, 0.83 per cent and 0.28 per cent respectively at the time. 

The E-Mini S&P 500 futures were down 1.28 per cent in early Asian trade, indicating a lower start for US equity markets on Monday. 

On Friday, the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite benchmarks finished 1.31 per cent, 1.90 per cent and 1.01 per cent higher respectively on Friday. 

Back home, the S&P BSE Sensex index ended 242.52 points – or 0.72 per cent – higher at 33,780.89 on Friday, and the broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark settled at 9,972.90, up 70.90 points – or 0.72 per cent – from its previous close. Both benchmark indices however registered weekly losses of more than 1 per cent after two weeks of gain.

The government was put off the release of headline consumer price inflation numbers for April and May due to inadequate data collection.

The headline numbers for retail inflation for the two months, and industrial output for April were not released “in view of the continued limited transactions of products in the market” during the coronavirus-triggered lockdown and problems in collecting of adequate data, the Statistics Ministry said.