The Indian stock market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open lower on Wednesday, following mixed cues from global markets, amid renewed escalation of US-Iran war in the Middle East, which lowered the prospects of any ceasefire deal.
Asian markets traded mixed, with Japan’s Nikkei hitting record high, while the US stock market ended higher overnight.
On Tuesday, Indian stock market ended higher, snapping its four-day losing streak, led by gains in IT heavyweights and value buying.
The Sensex gained 382.50 points, or 0.52%, to close at 74,649.84, while the Nifty 50 settled 100.95 points, or 0.43%, higher at 23,483.55.
“Nifty 50 is expected to trade in a broader range in the near term amid ongoing global macro uncertainty and sustained Foreign Institutional Investor outflows. Broader markets may continue to witness stock-specific movement, while investor focus is likely to remain on the RBI monetary policy outcome, keeping rate-sensitive sectors active,” 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 Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 hitting a record high, despite uncertainty over US-Iran peace talks. Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.17%, while the Topix rallied 0.93%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a lower opening. South Korea’s markets were closed for a holiday.
Gift Nifty Today
Gift Nifty was trading around 23,469 level, a discount of nearly 134 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a negative start for the Indian stock market indices.
Wall Street
US stock market ended marginally higher on Tuesday amid tensions arising from US-Iran talks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 228.91 points, or 0.45%, to 51,307.79, while the S&P 500 rose 9.94 points, or 0.13%, to 7,609.90. The Nasdaq Composite closed 7.09 points, or 0.03%, higher at 27,093.90.
Nvidia stock price fell 0.69%, AMD shares rose 2.24%, Microsoft share price plunged 4.17%, Apple stock price rallied 2.90%, Amazon shares declined 1.81%, Alphabet share price dropped 3.81%, Marvell Technology shares jumped 32.52% and Tesla stock price gained 1.89%.
US-Iran War
US military said that it had “successfully defeated” a series of Iranian missile and drone attacks in the Gulf and conducted self-defense strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island, AFP reported. US Central Command also denied claims by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that they had struck the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain and a separate air base in the region.
US Job Openings
US job openings increased by the most in five years in April. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, showed that the job openings had surged by 731,000 to 7.618 million by the last day of April, the highest level since May 2024. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 6.88 million unfilled jobs.
Crude Oil Prices
Crude oil prices gained as fighting flared up in the Middle East, diminishing the prospects of the US-Iran peace deal. Brent crude oil price rallied 1.13% to $97.08 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 1.24% to $94.92.
Gold Rate Today
Gold prices fell after US jobs data reinforced bets that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer. Spot gold price declined 0.4% to $4,469.13 an ounce, while silver prices shed 0.9% to $74.44 an ounce.
Dollar
The dollar traded in a narrow range. The dollar index, which measures the currency against six peers, rose 0.046% at 99.216. The yen edged lower to just shy of 160 per dollar.
(With inputs from Agencies)
