Indian stock markets are likely to be under pressure in early trade today amid weak Asian equities. Nifty futures trading on Singapore exchange (SGX Nifty) was down 0.3% to 17,204. In the previous session, on Wednesday, benchmark BSE Sensex reversed its early gains to close lower by 304 points to settle at 57,684.82. The broader NSE Nifty dipped 69.85 points or 0.4 per cent to finish at 17,245.65 with 29 of its stocks ending in red.

“The market is likely to see a gap down opening as weakness in SGX Nifty and overnight fall in US indices will give bears an early edge. The Street is expecting that the US Fed will go for aggressive rate hikes in May, June to contain inflation. The biggest headwinds for stock markets across the globe are surging inflation. Well, central bankers across the world ramp up the fight against rapidly surging inflation while acknowledging that inflationary pressures could persist for years, driven in part by the crisis in Ukraine. Technically speaking, the make-or-break support for Nifty is seen at psychological 17000 mark. Below Nifty's 17000 zone, expect a waterfall of selling which could take the index down to 16691 mark with inter-week perspective," said Prashanth Tapse, Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Asian equities were lower today as traders weighed the latest developments in the Ukraine war, oil price surge and more hawkish comments from U.S. Federal Reserve officials. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.6%. Major U.S. equities indexes declined more than 1% on Wednesday.

“On the downside 17,000 should act as immediate support followed by 16,850. On the global front, uncertainty still looms over investors which means that volatility will likely continue. Inflationary pressure will continue as central banks across the world has started to hike the rates," said Harsh Parekh, technical analyst at Bonanza Portfolio. 

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden arrived in Brussels for a series of summit meetings on the Ukraine War. Brent futures were up about 45 cents, or 0.4%, at $122.05 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up about 15 cents, or 0.2%, at $115.07 a barrel.

“The move in the index so far shows consolidation after two weeks of rebound and it’s healthy. However, the prevailing uncertainty on the global front combined with the lack of any domestic trigger is keeping the participants on their toes. In such a scenario, we feel it’s prudent to stick with the sectors or themes which are doing well but avoid going overboard," said Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking.

The yields on US bonds retreated from recent highs. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasury notes last traded at 2.3098% in Tokyo trading, after retreating from a nearly three-year peak of 2.4170% overnight.

Gold was slightly lower, trading at $1942.9 per ounce.