In opening market trading Thursday, the SGX Nifty is higher by 2 points as markets are likely to recover some of their losses from Wednesday. The high resistance level for Thursday is 8,056.33 and the low resistance level is 7,669.33.

On Tuesday, the NSE Nifty was lower, falling -38.95 points or -0.49 percent to 7,848.85. The BSE Sensex was also lower, down -175.51 points or -0.68 percent to 25,597.02. All sectors were lower however mid-cap stocks managed to gain slightly. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap Index gained 18.43 points to close at 11,143.31. Auto and healthcare led losses followed by information technology and consumer durables.

The government’s focus on tax treaties was a major factor leading stocks lower in India. On Wednesday the government reported it would amend tax treaties with a number of countries, with a focus on tax for foreign investments. For the day, bank shares showed the greatest losses and large-cap stocks with high levels of foreign investments were lower including HDFC Bank and State Bank of India.

Oil stocks were also lower for the day on descending oil prices. Among the largest to show losses were Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. and Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

In other Asian markets, China’s Shanghai Composite closed at 2,837.04 for a gain of 4.45 points or 0.16 percent. In Japan the Nikkei closed at 16,579.01 for a gain of 13.82 points or 0.08 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was lower at 20,055.29 for a loss of -187.39 points or -0.93 percent. The Asia Dow closed at 2,639.96 for a loss of -2.71 points or -0.10 percent.

In Europe, notable index closes included France’s CAC 40 which closed at 4,316.67 for a loss of -21.54 points or -0.50 percent; Germany’s DAX which closed at 9,975.32 for a loss of -70.12 points or -0.70 percent; the Stoxx Europe 600 which closed at 334.74 for a loss of -1.50 points or -0.45 percent; and the Stoxx Europe 50 which closed at 2,956.71 for a loss of -22.26 points or -0.75 percent.

In the U.S., stocks were broadly lower after the retail industry reported earnings losses and a weaker outlook. Disney, Macy’s and Staples were among the top stocks leading the market lower. On Friday the U.S. will report its retail sales which are likely to fall below consensus of 0.9 percent as the outlook for the sector has weakened. For the day the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 222.44 points or 1.26 percent to close at 17,928.35. The S&P 500 was up 25.69 points or 1.25 percent to close at 2,084.38. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 4,760.69 for a loss of 49.19 points or 1.02 percent.