At 7:30 am, Nifty futures were trading lower by 0.4 per cent on Singapore Stock Exchange.
The domestic stock markets are likely to open lower, following a cautious start in the Asian markets and negative indications from SGX Nifty. Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the index in India, with a 49 points loss. At 7:30 am, the Nifty futures were trading at 11,055, lower by 49 points or 0.4 per cent, on the Singapore Stock Exchange.
Asian shares and the dollar made a cautious start to the new month on Monday as U.S. lawmakers struggled to hammer out a new stimulus plan and a global surge of new coronavirus cases showed no sign of abating.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.2 per cent, though that was from a six-month top. Japan's Nikkei added 1.1 per cent courtesy of a pullback in the yen, while South Korea shares eased 0.3 per cent.
The Nasdaq jumped more than 1 per cent on Friday, powered by strong earnings from some of the largest U.S. companies, but the Dow and S&P finished with smaller gains as uncertainty about the government's next round of coronavirus aid kept economic worries on the radar.
The Dow Jones rose 0.44 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.77 per cent and Nasdaq Composite added 1.49 per cent.
Meanwhile, oil prices fell on Monday on concerns about oversupply as OPEC and its allies, together known as OPEC+, are due to pull back from production cuts in August while an increase in COVID-19 cases worldwide raised fears of slower pick-up in fuel demand.
Brent crude futures slid 8 cents, or 0.2 per cent, to $43.44 a barrel by 0001 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 12 cents, or 0.3 per cent, at $40.15 a barrel.
On the earnings front, Dhanlaxmi Bank, Exide Industries and KPIT Technologies will announce their Q1 numbers later in the day.
On July 31, the Sensex had ended at 37,606.89, lower by 129 points or 0.34 per cent and the Nifty had closed at 11,073.45, down 29 points or 0.26 per cent.
