Nifty futures, Asian indices down on 'Bernanke blues'

'Big Ben' chimes in with a downbeat assessment of the US economy, but offers no immediate stimulus. Markets across Asia are taking his comments badly.

Vembu|Dec 20, 2014, 11:36:39 IST

Hong Kong: Markets across Asia are this morning afflicted with the 'Bernanke blues'. The US Fed Chairman gave some of the most downbeat assessment of the US economy, warning of a recession ahead if US Congress doesn't act promptly. And since he didn't commit to any monetary stimulus action, markets across Asia are taking it badly and are down at the start.

As at 7.30 am IST, Nifty futures are trading flat, but have been trending down since the morning. That's pretty much in line with sentiment across the Asia-Pacific region this morning, with most of the indices in the red and sliding even further.

[caption id="attachment_381128" align="alignleft" width="380"] Markets across Asia are this morning afflicted with the 'Bernanke blues'. Reuters[/caption]

Overnight, Wall Street saw a choppy day of trading, falling steeply at the start on Bernanke's comments, but then recovering ground on some good corporate results from Goldman Sachs and Coca-Cola. The prospect that things are so bad that there will be some form of stimulus sooner or later also propped up sentiment in a perverse sort of way.

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Back home, we could be in for a listless start to the day, but with a bearish bias. There aren't many big triggers to influence investor sentiment decisively one way or another, and corporate results, and the progress of the monsoon could determine the mood of the day.

Overall, we'll likely see a flat, or a mildly negative start to the trading day.

By Vembu

Venky Vembu attained his first Fifteen Minutes of Fame in 1984, on the threshold of his career, when paparazzi pictures of him with Maneka Gandhi were splashed in the world media under the mischievous tag ‘International Affairs’. But that’s a story he’s saving up for his memoirs… Over 25 years, Venky worked in The Indian Express, Frontline newsmagazine, Outlook Money and DNA, before joining FirstPost ahead of its launch. Additionally, he has been published, at various times, in, among other publications, The Times of India, Hindustan Times, Outlook, and Outlook Traveller.