Indian stock market: 8 key things that changed for market overnight – Gift Nifty, Powell speech to Nikkei’s record high
Indian stock market: The domestic equity indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to extend gains on Thursday tracking positive global market cues.
Asian markets traded higher, while the US stock market closed in the green overnight after comments from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reinforced expectations that the central bank would cut its benchmark interest rate this year.
On Wednesday, the Indian stock market indices gained over half a percent each with the benchmark Sensex surpassing the coveted 74,000 mark for the first time.
The Sensex rose 408.86 points, or 0.55%, to close at 74,085.99, while the Nifty 50 settled 117.75 points, or 0.53%, higher at 22,474.05.
“Domestic equities made a comeback after a minor pause and continued to make new highs. Sectorial rotation was seen in the market with private banks gaining momentum and supporting the index. We expect largecaps to drive the market in the near term while midcap and smallcap could remain under pressure,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:
Asian Markets
Asian markets traded higher on Thursday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index hit a fresh record high, following overnight gains on Wall Street
The Nikkei 225 gained 0.8%, while the Topix rose 0.6%, also hitting a record high. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.42%, while the Kosdaq rose 0.1%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a higher opening.
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Gift Nifty Today
Gift Nifty was trading at 22,654 level, at a premium of around 60 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a positive start for the Indian stock market indices.
Wall Street
US stock market indexes ended higher on Wednesday after the release of key economic data and comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell raised hopes of interest rate cuts this year.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 75.86 points, or 0.20%, to 38,661.05, while the S&P 500 rose 26.11 points, or 0.51%, to 5,104.76. The Nasdaq Composite ended 91.96 points, or 0.58%, higher at 16,031.54.
Among stocks, Tesla shares fell 2.3%, while JD.com rallied 16.2%. Coinbase Global share price jumped 10% and MicroStrategy shares surged 18.6%. CrowdStrike Holdings shares spiked 10.8%, while Palo Alto shares fell 4%.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s testimony
US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, in comments to US lawmakers, said continued progress on lowering inflation “is not assured” though the central bank still expects to reduce its benchmark interest rate later this year.
Read here: US Fed signals rate cuts in 2024; Powell says progress towards 2% inflation target ‘not assured’
US private payrolls
US private payrolls increased by 140,000 jobs in February after rising by an upwardly revised 111,000 in January, the ADP Employment report showed. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private employment increasing by 150,000 last month.
US jobs opening
US job openings fell marginally in January, while the number of workers quitting their jobs dropped to a three-year low. There were 1.45 jobs for every unemployed person in January up from 1.42 in December. Job openings, a measure of labor demand, slipped 26,000 to 8.863 million on the last day of January. Reuters had forecast 8.9 million job openings in January.
The number of workers resigning from their jobs dropped 54,000 to 3.385 million, the lowest level since January 2021. The quits rate dropped to 2.1%, the lowest since August 2020 and down from 2.2%.
Dollar, Treasury yields fall
The US dollar slipped and treasury yields fell to one-month lows on Wednesday after comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.
The dollar index, which measures the currency’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.41% at 103.36.
Benchmark 10-year yields fell 3 basis points (bps) to 4.108%, and got as low as 4.079%, the lowest since February 7. Two-year yields gained 1 bps to 4.552% after earlier dropping to 4.510%, the lowest since February 15.
Oil prices
Crude oil prices gained about 1% on Wednesday. Brent futures rose 92 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $82.96 a barrel, while US crude rose 98 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $79.13.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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