Sensex, Nifty may fall in early trade

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SGX Nifty: Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could fall 46 points at the opening bell.

Global markets: Overseas, Asian stocks traded lower on Monday as the delta virus strain hampers economic reopening and as investors reacted to the release of economic data. South Korea’s markets are closed on Monday for a holiday. Retail sales in China rose 8.5% in July as compared with a year ago, according to official data released Monday. Meanwhile, industrial production grew 6.4% in July.

Japan’s GDP rose 0.3% in the second quarter as compared with the previous three months, when it contracted 0.9%, according to official preliminary estimates released Monday. In US, the Dow Industrial and S&P 500 edged up to closing records on Friday, buoyed by a climb in Walt Disney shares, but a sharp drop in consumer sentiment kept gains in check.

The University of Michigan’s sentiment read for August printed at just 70.2, the weakest since December 2011.

Domestic markets: Back home, the domestic equity barometers ended with solid gains on Friday. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 593.31 points or 1.08% to 55,437.29. The Nifty 50 index added 164.70 points or 1.01% to 16,529.10. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 819.77 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were also net buyers to the tune of Rs 149.50 crore in the Indian equity market on 13 August, provisional data showed.