The Indian stock market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open on a cautious note on Friday, following mixed cues from global markets.
Asian markets traded mixed, while the US stock market ended higher overnight, led by a rally in technology stocks.
On Thursday, the Indian stock market ended with healthy gains, led by a short covering rally after the recent fall.
The Sensex jumped 789.74 points, or 1.06%, to close at 75,398.72, while the Nifty 50 settled 277.00 points, or 1.18%, higher at 23,689.60.
“Indian markets are likely to remain sensitive to developments in the West Asia conflict, movement in energy prices and trends in foreign fund flows. While the recent rebound indicates selective buying at lower levels, elevated inflation, currency weakness and persistent geopolitical uncertainty are expected to keep overall sentiment cautious,” 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 mixed on Friday as investors tracked the second day of high-stakes talks between the US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.89% and the Topix rallied 1.18%. South Korea’s Kospi rose over 0.6% to a record high, while the Kosdaq eased 0.4%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a lower opening.
Gift Nifty Today
Gift Nifty was trading around 23,690 level, a discount of nearly 10 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 Thursday, lifted by a rally in tech stocks, with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closing at record highs.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 370.26 points, or 0.75%, to 50,063.46, while the S&P 500 gained 56.99 points, or 0.77%, to 7,501.24. The Nasdaq Composite closed 232.88 points, or 0.88%, higher at 26,635.22.
Nvidia stock price rallied 4.39%, AMD shares rose 0.94%, Qualcomm shares slipped 6.14%, Intel share price declined 3.62%, Micron Technology stock dropped 3.44%, while Cisco shares jumped 13.4%. Apple stock price fell 0.22%, Microsoft shares gained 1.04%, and Tesla stock price eased 0.44%.
Trump-Xi Meeting
US President Donald Trump is on a two day visit to Beijing in China where he held a bilateral meeting with the Chinese President Xi Jinping. The summit between the two leaders was aimed at maintaining a fragile trade truce struck when the leaders last met in October and Trump suspended triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods and Xi backed away from choking global supplies of vital rare earths.
US-Iran War
A ship was reportedly seized by Iranian personnel off the United Arab Emirates and headed for Iranian waters. The White House said US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had agreed on the need to keep the nearby Strait of Hormuz shipping lane open. The US paused its attacks on Iran last month but added a blockade of the country’s ports.
US Retail Sales
US retail sales increased further in April. Retail sales rose 0.5% last month after a downwardly revised 1.6% jump in March. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales, which are mostly goods and are not adjusted for inflation, gaining 0.5% after a previously reported 1.7% increase in March.
Bitcoin Price Today
Bitcoin prices jumped above $81,000 amid a rally in the broader cryptocurrency market, after the US Senate Banking Committee advanced the US digital asset market structure bill. Bitcoin prices were up 2.44% at $81,517.46, and Ethereum price gained 1.03% to $2,289.69.
Crude Oil Prices
Crude oil prices rose amid concerns over ship attacks and seizures despite Iran saying about 30 vessels had passed through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude oil futures rose 0.57% to $106.32 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate futures were up 0.53% to $101.71.
Gold Rate Today
Gold prices fell to a more than one-week low, and was set for a weekly decline, amid inflation fears and signs of prolonged higher interest rates. Spot gold price fell 0.6% to $4,619.49 per ounce. Bullion was down 1.9% so far this week. US gold futures for June delivery lost 1.3% to $4,625.70. Spot silver prices fell 1.7% to $82.08 per ounce.
Dollar
The dollar firmed and was set for its largest weekly gain in more than two months. The dollar index rose to a two-week high of 98.98 against a basket of currencies. For the week, the dollar index was set to rise more than 1%. The Japanese yen was at 158.45 per dollar and was on track to lose more than 1% for the week. The euro fell 0.04% to $1.1662, also headed for a weekly fall of over 1%. Sterling fell to a one-month low of $1.3385.
(With inputs from Agencies)