The Indian stock market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open flat on Thursday, following a three-day rally, amid upbeat cues from global markets.
Asian markets gained, while the US stock market ended higher overnight, driven by a rally in technology stocks.
On Wednesday, the Indian stock market ended higher in a choppy session, extending gains for the third consecutive session staging a gradual recovery, led by decent buying across most sectors.
The Sensex rallied 283.29 points, or 0.34%, to close at 83,734.25, while the Nifty 50 settled 93.95 points, or 0.37%, higher at 25,819.35.
“Markets are likely to remain firm with an upward bias, guided by global cues and domestic sector-specific developments,” said Siddhartha Khemka – Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:
Asian Markets
Asian markets traded higher on Thursday, following overnight gains on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.52%, while the Topix rose 0.39%. South Korea’s Kospi index jumped 2.76% to a fresh record high and Kosdaq advanced 0.59%. Hong Kong and mainland China markets are closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Gift Nifty Today
Gift Nifty was trading around 25,833 level, a premium of nearly 5 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a flat start for the Indian stock market indices.
Wall Street
US stock market ended higher on Wednesday, lifted by gains in technology stocks following recent jitters about artificial intelligence.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.26% to 49,662.66, while the S&P 500 rose 0.56% to end the session at 6,881.31. The Nasdaq closed 0.78% higher at 22,753.64.
Nvidia stock price rallied 1.6%, Meta shares added 0.6%, AMC share price fell 1.43%, Amazon shares gained 1.81% and Microsoft rose 0.7%. Tesla stock price rose 0.14%. Sandisk, Western Digital and Seagate Technology Holdings climbed between 1.7% and 4.4% each.
US Fed Meeting Minutes
The US Federal Reserve policymakers made a near-unanimous decision to keep interest rates unchanged at their meeting in January, with policymakers striking a cautiously hawkish tone even as they signaled flexibility on future moves, the minutes of the latest Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting showed.
While the decision to hold rates steady was widely expected, the minutes showed that officials remain divided on the path ahead, with some open to further easing if inflation cools as anticipated, and others prepared to tighten policy should price pressures persist.
Gold Prices
Gold prices steadied after jumping 2% in the previous session. Spot gold price declined 0.2% to $4,969.37 an ounce, while Silver prices fell 0.2% to $77.0590 an ounce.
US Dollar
The dollar was off recent lows and hanging on to a bounce after the US Fed meeting showed policymakers did not seem to be in a rush to cut interest rates and that several were open to hikes if inflation proved sticky. Euro was below $1.18 and the Japanese Yen was down 1% overnight and steady at 154.78 to the dollar.
Crude Oil Prices
Crude oil prices steadied after its biggest daily gain since October, following a report that American military intervention in Iran could come sooner than expected.
(With inputs from Reuters)
