Dalal St may open weak on Fed decision; BoJ meet in focus

Moneycontrol BureauIndian equity markets are expected to open weak Thursday, following culmination of the Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting where it stood pat on rates citing the Brexit risk and after the recent weak US jobs data.Commentary of Fed chair Janet Yellen indicated a rate hike now looked unlikely in July, giving markets a jitter over whether the US central bank has a strong handle on the economy.Overnight, Wall Street snapped a five-day winning streak to close lower.In Singapore this morning, the SGX Nifty was trading at 8189.00, down 23.00 points indicating a small gap-down for Dalal Street in today's trade. In Asia, all eyes are set on the Bank of Japan's policy decision due today. In Japan, economists have mixed opinions on whether BoJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda will boost stimulus. In other asset classes, dollar added to its losses by trading weak versus the yen. In commodities, crude prices fall for a sixth straight day on supply concerns, while gold hit USD 1300 an ounce. Back home, exports improved marginally in the month of May, but fell for the 18th straight month compared to last year. Also, decline in imports kept trade deficit at just over USD 6 billion.