Indian stock market: The domestic equity market indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open flat-to-positive on Thursday amid weakness in global markets.

Asian markets traded lower, while the US stock market ended largely in the red overnight amid selling in technology and chip stocks, with the Nasdaq recording its worst day since December 2022.

On Tuesday, the Indian stock market benchmark indices ended with marginal gains, reaching new record highs led by buying in select heavyweights.

The Sensex gained 51.69 points, or 0.06%, to close at 80,716.55, while the Nifty 50 settled 26.30 points, or 0.11%, higher at 24,613.00.

“Markets rallied for the third consecutive day amid buying by FIIs and a rally in the global markets. With the nearing of a major event – Union Budget, we expect anxiety to increase in the market. Along with this Q1FY25 earnings results of prominent companies will drive the stock-specific action,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Indian stock market remained closed on Wednesday on account of Muharram 2024.

Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:

Asian Markets

Asian markets traded lower on Thursday following overnight selloff in US chip stocks amid rising geopolitical tensions.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 plunged over 2%, while the Topix declined 1.13%. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.27%, and the Kosdaq fell 1.48%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a lower opening.

In currencies, Japan’s yen scaled a six-week high as it rose 0.5% to touch 155.37 per dollar.

Gift Nifty Today

Gift Nifty was trading around 24,675 level, a premium of nearly 35 points from the Nifty futures’ Tuesday’s close, indicating a mildly positive start for the Indian stock market indices.

Wall Street

US stock market ended mixed on Wednesday with the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq suffering heavy losses as tech stocks plunged.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 243.6 points, or 0.59%, to 41,198.08, while the S&P 500 declined 78.93 points, or 1.39%, to 5,588.27. The Nasdaq Composite ended 512.42 points, or 2.77%, lower at 17,996.93.

Nvidia stock price dropped 6.6%, Apple shares fell 2.5%, while Microsoft share price declined 1.3%. Johnson & Johnson share price gained 3.69%, while UnitedHealth Group stock price rallied 4.45%.

Beige Book survey

The US economy grew at a slight pace heading into the third quarter, with a number of regions noting flat or declining activity, while employment also increased only slightly, the US Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book survey of regional business contacts.

US Industrial Output

Production at US factories increased more than expected in June. Factory output rose 0.4% last month following an upwardly revised 1.0% increase in May. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast factory output would advance 0.2% after a previously reported 0.9% jump in May. Production at factories shot up 1.1% on a year-on-year basis in June.

US Housing Starts

US single-family homebuilding fell to an eight-month low in June amid higher mortgage rates. Single-family housing starts fell 2.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 980,000 units last month, the lowest level since last October. Single-family housing starts increased 5.4% on a year-on-year basis in June.

Japan’s Exports Rise

Japanese exports rose in June for a seventh straight month, but the pace of growth slowed, data showed. Japanese exports rose 5.4% year-on-year in June, smaller than a 6.4% increase expected by economists in a Reuters poll and cooling from 13.5% growth in May. Imports grew 3.2% in June from a year earlier, swinging the trade balance into a surplus of 224 billion yen ($1.44 billion) from a deficit of 1.2 trillion yen ($7.7 billion) in May. Estimates were for a deficit of 240 billion yen.

Oil Prices

Crude oil prices extended gains after the biggest daily jump in more than five weeks as US crude stockpiles fell for the third consecutive week.

Brent crude oil rose 0.15% to $85.21 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 0.37% to $83.16.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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