Domestic stocks are likely to open on a strong note as trading resumes after a local holiday. Stock markets were closed on Monday, 6 April 2020 on account of Mahavir Jayanti. Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could jump 155 points at the opening bell. On the macro front, India's dominant services sector contracted in March as new business and export demand fell sharply as the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc globally, a private survey showed. The Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index fell sharply to a five-month low of 49.3 in March from February's seven-year high of 57.5, below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction for the first time since October. Overseas, Asian markets were trading higher on signs of a slowdown in coronavirus-related deaths. In US, stocks rocketed higher, after a fall in the daily death toll in New York, the country's biggest coronavirus hot spot, fueled optimism a leveling off of the pandemic was on the horizon. Back home, domestic shares ended with steep losses on Friday, as coronavirus cases showed no signs of abating while negative global cues further impacted sentiments. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped 674.36 points or 2.39% at 27,590.95. The Nifty 50 index shed 170 points or 2.06% at 8,083.80. The trading activity on that day showed that the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1,960.97 crore on 3 April 2020, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 226.55 crore on 3 April 2020, as per provisional data. Powered by Capital Market - Live News |