The Indian stock market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open lower on Friday, following a sharp fall in global markets, as the ongoing war in the Middle East of US and Israel against Iran raised oil prices globally.
Asian markets traded lower, while the US stock market slumped overnight as the escalating US-Iran war pushed crude oil prices higher, stoking fears of high inflation.
On Thursday, the Indian stock market ended with strong gains amid short-covering after three sessions of heavy losses amid persistent concerns over the ongoing US-Iran war in the Middle East.
The Sensex rallied 899.71 points, or 1.14%, to close at 80,015.90, while the Nifty 50 settled 285.40 points, or 1.17%, higher at 24,765.90.
“In the current environment of heightened volatility, we reiterate our cautious stance and advise participants to remain selective while maintaining disciplined risk management when initiating fresh positions,” said Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd.
Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:
Asian Markets
Asian markets traded lower on Friday, following overnight losses on Wall Street, as the Iran war lifted energy prices. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.24% and the Topix dropped 0.42%. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.87%, while Kosdaq rallied 2.45%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a lower start.
Gift Nifty Today
Gift Nifty was trading around 24,605 level, a discount of nearly 249 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a negative start for the Indian stock market indices.
wall street
The US stock market ended sharply lower on Thursday as the Middle East conflict entered its sixth day, pushing oil prices higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 784.67, or 1.61%, to 47,954.74, while the S&P 500 fell 0.56%, to 6,830.71. The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.26% lower at 22,748.99.
Nvidia stock price rose 0.16%, AMD shares fell 1.3%, Microsoft share price gained 1.35%, Amazon stock price added 0.98%, while Apple shares dropped 0.85%. Tesla stock price eased 0.09, Southwest Airlines shares plunged 6.9%, Chevron stock price gained 3.9% and Broadcom share price rallied 4.8%.
US-Israel-Iran War
Iran has intensified attacks throughout the Gulf in retaliation for US and Israeli operations that killed its supreme leader last weekend. In the latest development, an Iranian missile strike ignited a fire at Bahrain’s state-operated oil refinery on Thursday, which was subsequently extinguished.
US Treasury Yields
US Treasury yields climbed for a fourth straight day. The yield on the benchmark US 10-year Treasury note rose 5 basis points to 4.132% after hitting a three-week high of 4.15%. The yield on the 30-year bond advanced 2.6 bps to 4.743% after touching 4.772%, its highest since February 12. Yields on two-year notes rose as much as 5 bps to 3.60%, the highest since January 28.
Japanese Bond Yields
The benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond (JGB) yield edged higher. The 10-year JGB yield rose 1.5 basis points (bps) to 2.170%. The 20-year JGB yield climbed 1 bp to 2.990%. The 30-year yield was flat at 3.375%. The yield on the 40-year JGB fell 0.5 bps to 3.585%.
Russian oil
The US issued a general license to allow for some Russian oil sales to India, as escalating conflict in the Persian Gulf cuts off a major producing region. The license covers transactions related to the sale of Russian crude oil and petroleum products loaded onto vessels before March 5, so long as it’s delivered to India and purchased by an Indian firm. The measure expires April 4 at 12:01 am Washington time.
Crude Oil Prices
Crude oil prices were headed for the biggest weekly surge since 2022 as the war in the Middle East disrupted supplies. Brent crude oil price fell 0.50% to $81.02 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declined 0.54% to $76.75.
Gold Rate Today
Gold prices stabilized after losing more than 1% in the previous session. Spot gold rose 0.2% to $5,093.63 an ounce, while silver price rose 0.3% to $82.47 an ounce.
dollars
The US dollar was steady and was poised for its steepest weekly gain in more than a year. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was trading a touch lower by 0.06% at 99.00, still on course for a 1.4% gain this week that would be the most since November 2024, Reuters reported. The euro was little changed at $1.1612, while the yen tacked on 0.06% to 157.5 per dollar. Sterling was up 0.04% at $1.3361.
(With inputs from agencies)
