Global markets today, Aug. 18 -- Following no meaningful progress in the US-Iran peace talks, the global markets' bias has turned weak. The key benchmark indices of the US stock market ended lower on Monday, while Asian markets are trading lower in early-morning deals on Tuesday. The Japanese Nikkei 225 index crashed by over 2%, while the South Korean KOSPI index is down by around 1.50%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is also down by over 0.50%. In India, the Gift Nifty live index is also down by over 85 points from its previous close, but it is still around yesterday's spot Nifty close. This signals the Indian stock market may have a flat-to-negative start during the Opening Bell.

"Indian equity markets are expected to trade with a cautiou...