Four Reasons why Nifty, BSE Sensex Likely to Open Flat to Negative Today

By Aditya Raghunath

Investing.com -- 

1. Nifty and BSE Sensex could open negative as rising political tensions in the US could play spoilsport today. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 1.25% lower on Monday, S&P 500 was down 1.48% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.47% as the upcoming runoff elections in the state of Georgia loomed. These results could have a major impact on Presidential-elect Joe Biden’s economic and fiscal policies. COVID-19 cases in the US are just not dropping adding to uncertainty in the markets.
2. In the UK, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has imposed a new lockdown that necessitates people to stay-at-home at least until mid-February as the country copes with the newest strain of the coronavirus. “It’s clear that we need to do more together to bring this new variant under control. In England, we must therefore go into a national lockdown which is tough enough to combat this variant. That means the government is once again instructing you to stay at home,” he said.
3. The Nikkei 225 is trading marginally lower, down 0.093%. It’s made a decent recovery after dropping 0.47% on a news report that said Japan’s government is planning to curb businesses in Tokyo and surrounding areas from Thursday. The KOSPI 50 is trading flat after recovering from a sharp drop in early trade.
4. Crude oil prices dropped below the $48 mark and are trading at $47.74 as they mirrored the fall in US stocks. OPEC+ hasn’t decided the level of output for February and will meet again today, January 5.