Selloff continues: Nifty futures, Asian markets down

Hong Kong: The wonder about yesterday’s market performance in India was that it recovered some ground despite the GDP data shock. And although it finished to the downside, the slide was relatively mild considering the magnitude of the fall in GDP growth.

But the selling is likely to continue into today, going by early trades on the Nifty futures, which point to a weak opening in Mumbai today.

As at 7.30 am IST, Nifty futures are down nearly eight-tenths of 1 percent, to well below the 4900 mark. The rupee too is poised to open weaker, which will compound the sense of loss.

Elsewhere across the Asia-Pacific region too, markets are down in volatile trades, after the official China manufacturing data pointed to a marginal slowdown in economic activity. The Chinese economy is still in expansionary mode, but symptoms of a slowdown abound, and this time around, policymakers aren’t exactly rushing in with a fiscal stimulus.

Listen to audio

Overnight, Wall Street had a wild day, swinging down, then up and then down again to end about even. There too, signs of a slowdown are manifesting themselves with each passing day: first quarter GDP was revised down to 1.9 percent, and today’s jobs data will likely fail to enthuse.

Eurozone fears were momentarily calmed after reports that the IMF planned to cushion Spain’s pain, but there’s no clarity on that yet, and in any case it could at best be a stop-gap measure.

Back home, the double whammy of a weaker rupee and an economy that’s slowing down rapidly will likely weigh on sentiment today.

Overall, we’re likely to see a weak start to the day.