After global markets showed signs of weakness, the domestic stock benchmark indices, the Sensex and Nifty 50, are anticipated to open cautiously on Thursday.
In contrast to the US stock market, which closed the day in the red and saw its worst day in almost a month, Asian markets saw a decline in trading.
According to Reuters, benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields hit a three-month high as investors reevaluated the US Federal Reserve’s rate-cut expectations in light of the forthcoming US Presidential Elections in 2024 and solid economic statistics.
The Sensex and Nifty 50 stock market indices in India saw slight losses at the end of Wednesday’s tumultuous trading session.
The Nifty 50 closed 36.60 points, or 0.15%, lower at 24,435.50, while the Sensex dropped 138.74 points, or 0.17%, to close at 80,081.98.
“While markets exhibited volatility in early trades, key indices erased gains in the second half to end marginally lower amid weakness in banking, power, oil & gas and realty shares. However, recovery in IT stocks helped markets pare losses. More than economic factors, it’s the FII selling in the current month that has been a key drag, while subdued quarterly earnings so far also kept the mood sluggish to negative,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.
The following are today’s major worldwide market cues for the Sensex:
Asian Markets
Asian markets fell in tandem with Wall Street’s overnight losses and regional economic indicators.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan sank 0.68%, and the Topix fell 0.82%. The Kosdaq fell 0.91%, and the benchmark Kospi in South Korea fell 0.32%. The Hang Seng index futures for Hong Kong showed a worse start.
Gift Nifty Today
The Indian stock market indices had a strong start as the Gift Nifty was trading at a premium of around 40 points from the previous closing of the Nifty futures, at the 24,520 level.
Wall Street
Due to selling in megacap stocks and rising Treasury yields, the US stock market closed Wednesday’s trading session lower.
The S&P 500 slid 53.78 points, or 0.92%, to 5,797.42, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 409.94 points, or 0.96%, to 42,514.95. The Nasdaq Composite closed at 18,276.65, down 296.47 points, or 1.60%.
Amazon’s stock decreased 2.63%, Meta Platforms’ stock fell 3.15%, Apple’s stock fell 2.16%, and Nvidia’s stock fell 2.81%. Despite closing lower, the price of Tesla’s stock increased by 8% during after-hours trading.
Shares of McDonald’s fell 5.12%. Boeing’s stock plummeted 1.76%, while Coca-Cola’s stock fell 2.07%.
US Home Sales
In September, existing house sales in the US fell to a 14-year low. Last month, the seasonally adjusted annual pace of home sales dropped 1.0% to 3.84 million units, the lowest since October 2010. According to Reuters’ survey of economists, home resales would remain steady at a rate of 3.86 million units. In September, home resales fell 3.5% year over year.
US Crude Inventories
According to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data, petrol stocks surprisingly increased last week, while US crude oil inventories increased significantly as imports slightly increased. In the week ending October 18, crude stocks increased by 5.5 million barrels to 426 million barrels, whereas a Reuters poll of analysts predicted a 270,000-barrel increase. The delivery hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, saw a 346,000 barrel drop in crude stockpiles.
Beige Book Survey
According to the US Federal Reserve’s most recent temperature check on the state of the economy, firms experienced an increase in hiring, and US economic activity remained relatively stable from September to early October. It also revealed that inflation pressures continued to subside.
“On balance, economic activity was little changed in nearly all Districts since early September, though two Districts reported modest growth,” the Fed said in the survey known as the “Beige Book”.
Dollar
Compared to its major counterparts, the US dollar was trading around a three-month high. Not far from the overnight high of 104.57, a level last observed on July 30, the dollar index, which compares the currency to six competitors, including the euro and yen, was trading at 104.38.
Overnight, the yield on the US 10-year Treasury hit 4.26%, the highest level in three months.
Oil Prices
Crude oil prices recovered some of the more than 1% losses from the previous session as they moved higher.
US West Texas Intermediate crude prices increased 0.64% to $71.22 a barrel, while Brent crude futures increased 0.59% to $75.40.
