MUMBAI: Benchmark indices could continue to remain choppy after Tuesday’s holiday, taking cues from global markets buffeted by the fallout from the Ukraine war. As Indian markets remained shut for the Mahashivratri holiday , European majors like Dax and Cac traded more than 2% down and Dow futures indicated a lower opening for the US index , at the time of writing.
The Singapore-based SGX Nifty traded 200 points off its high at 16754 , lower than the Nifty closing of 16793.9 on Monday. Foreign investors have been selling hand-over-fist in the cash market, even as they remain net-long index futures like Nifty and Bank Nifty, indicating that they are buying futures against cash sales, to benefit from any potential bounce.
In the fiscal year through date, they’ve sold shares worth $13.1 billion, the highest ever, shows NSDL data. At the same time, they remain cumulatively net buyers of index futures to the tune of 26,395 contacts. Russia has offered to hold another round of talks with Ukraine on Wednesday and global markets will pin their hopes on these for any positive outcome, said Hormuz Maloo, director, AFco Investments.
The Nifty is trading almost 10% off its record high of 18604.45 on October 19 last year. The Nifty Midcap is trading 15% off its record high, which indicates both indices are in correction mode. A stock or an index enters correction mode when it trades 10% below its high and a bear market when it trades 20% or more below its record high . The US Dow Jones, comprising the top 30 US companies, traded 8.3% off its record high as of Monday.