Before Market Opens: 9 essential things to know at 9 am on June 4, 2024

Before Market Opens: Indian markets are likely to open on a positive note on Tuesday extending gains from the massive rally in the previous sessions as investors await final election results today. The Street expects a solid majority for the Narendra Modi-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha election that concluded Saturday. Meanwhile, Gift Nifty was also trading 24 points higher, indicating a positive start for benchmark Nifty. Let’s take a look at some key cues before the market opens today:

S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged higher in a choppy session on Monday amid soft manufacturing sector data and as a glitch on the NYSE briefly caused trading halts in dozens of equities. A glitch at the New York Stock Exchange had triggered massive swings in the shares of Berkshire Hathaway and Barrick Gold . Trading in at least 60 NYSE-listed stocks were halted due to the volatility, before the bourse fixed the technical issue and activity resumed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 115.29 points, or 0.30%, to 38,571.03, the S&P 500 gained 5.89 points, or 0.11%, to 5,283.40 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 93.66 points, or 0.56%, to 16,828.67.

Asian share markets were mildly weaker on Tuesday as global investors consider the prospect the U.S. economy’s ‘exceptionalism’ is starting to unwind as manufacturing activity in the world’s largest economy further weakened. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.1%, after U.S. stocks ended the previous session with mild gains. The index is up 1.6% so far this month. Australian shares were down 0.21%, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index slid 0.77%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was flat in early trade and China’s CSI300 Index off 0.16%.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to win a record-equalling third consecutive term in office on Tuesday when the 642 million votes cast in the world’s largest election are counted. Exit polls have projected a big win for Modi and if they are confirmed – they have often got the outcome wrong in India – Modi’s Hindu nationalists will have triumphed in a vitriolic campaign in which parties accused each other of religious bias and of posing a threat to sections of the population.

On Monday, the Indian stock market witnessed its biggest single day rally since January 2021, amid buying across the board as investors cheered the exit poll results for Lok Sabha elections 2024, which predicted NDA to win for the third consecutive time. The Sensex surged 2,507.47 points, or 3.39%, to close at 76,468.78, while the Nifty 50 settled 733.20 points, or 3.25%, higher at 23,263.90.

At 8:15 am, Gift Nifty was trading 24 points or 0.1 percent higher at 23,538, indicating a positive opening for the Indian markets.

Oil prices eased in early trade on Tuesday, extending their losses from the previous session when prices fell to their lowest in four months, as investors worried about supply ticking up later in the year. Brent crude futures fell 20 cents or 0.3 % $78.16 a barrel. Brent closed below $80 for the first time since Feb. 7, after falling more than 3% on Monday.

Gold prices edged higher on Monday as signs of cooling U.S. inflation lifted hopes for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year, while traders awaited a slew of U.S. economic data due this week. Spot gold was up 0.2% at $2,331.84 per ounce, after posting a 2% gain last month. Prices hit an all-time high of $2,449.89 on May 20.

The Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their buying on June 3 as they bought Indian equities worth ₹6,850.76 crore , while domestic institutional investors also bought equities worth ₹1,913.98 crore on same day.

The rupee jumped 28 paise to close at over two-month high of 83.14 against the US dollar on Monday, tracking over 3 percent surge in domestic equity benchmarks after exit poll results predicted a firm comeback of the ruling BJP-led government for the third straight term. Forex analysts attributed the steep rise in the local unit to factors such as strong domestic macroeconomic data, inflow of foreign funds and a weak American currency against major Asian rivals.