Nifty futures, Asian indices down; Wall St ends flat

Hong Kong: Yesterday’s upbeat market sentiment, on hopes of a wave of reforms following up on the fuel price hike, may already have run its course.

With the UPA government seemingly looking to roll back some of the price hike - and perhaps postpone a meeting scheduled for today to consider raising diesel and LPG prices -hopes of meaningful reforms have been dashed for now.

As at 7.30 am IST, Nifty futures are marginally down, about two-tenths of 1 percent and looking for direction as they trend towards the 4900 mark, but that sense of direction is to be found nowhere in Asian markets. Most indices across the region are either flat or down a tick, with nothing in it one way or another. Yet, the overall sentiment is one of nervousness.

[caption id=“attachment_320677” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Nifty futures are marginally down, about two-tenths of 1 percent and looking for direction as they trend towards the 4900 mark. AFP”]  [/caption]

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Over in the US, Wall Street saw another day of wild swings. The market sold off initially and for much of the day on downbeat data from China, and the continuing stalemate over Greece. But pretty late in the day, picking on the feeblest bit of positive pronouncements from Europe, the markets staged a rally to finish about flat.

Back home, analysts who were bucked up by the petrol price hike are already in for a disappointment. What they reckoned was a precursor to more reforms to address fiscal deficit infirmities and perhaps even more ambitious reforms on FDI in retail and the aviation sector is already facing protests on the streets, and the government lacks the political strength to see it through.

The rupee recovered some ground yesterday, but will likely open marginally weaker today.

Overall, we’re likely to see a weak opening to the market today.