The Indian stock market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open flat on Wednesday, following weak global market cues. The domestic sentiment remains upbeat on announcement of the India-US trade deal, and investors await the key details of the trade agreement.
Asian markets traded mixed, while the stock market ended lower overnight after a sell-off in technology stocks.
On Tuesday, the Indian stock market ended with gainstellars as the announcement of the India-US trade deal boosted sentiment across the board.
The Sensex jumped 2,072.67 points, or 2.54%, to close at 83,739.13, while the Nifty 50 settled 639.15 points, or 2.55%, higher at 25,727.55.
“We expect Indian markets to witness continued positive momentum in the near term, with sector/stock specific action, driven by recent trade deals (US and EU), Union Budget announcements and the ongoing Q3 earnings season,” 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 mostly lower on Wednesday, following overnight losses on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 1.2%, while the Topix fell 0.39%. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.4%, while the Kosdaq rallied 1.01%. Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures indicated a lower opening.
Gift Nifty Today
Gift Nifty was trading around 25,824 level, a premium of nearly 7 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a flat start for the Indian stock market indices.
wall street
The US stock market ended sharply lower on Tuesday, weighed down by selloff in technology stocks on worries about AI creating more competition for software makers.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.34% to 49,240.99, while the S&P 500 fell 0.84% to end the session at 6,917.81. The Nasdaq closed 1.43% lower at 23,255.19.
Nvidia stock price dropped 2.84%, Microsoft shares fell 2.87%, Meta Platforms stock declined 2.08%, Alphabet share price fell 1.22% and Amazon shares declined 1.79%. Salesforce, Datadog and Adobe shares lost about 7%, Synopsys and Atlassian fell about 8%, and Intuit slumped 11%.
India-US Trade Deal
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that the India-US trade deal is in the final stages of detailing between the negotiating teams. The minister also stated that India has got better trade deals than competitors, adding, “India’s sensitive sectors, particularly agriculture and dairy, have been fully safeguarded.”
US-Iran Tensions
The US military on Tuesday shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea, Reuters reported. The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying toward the carrier “with unclear intent” and was shot down by an F-35 US fighter jet, the US military said.
Nvidia-Open AI Deal
Nvidia is nearing a deal to invest $20 billion in OpenAI as part of its latest funding round, Bloomberg News reported. The ChatGPT maker is looking to raise up to $100 billion in funding, valuing it at about $830 billion.
Japan Services PMI
Japan’s services activity expanded at its quickest pace in nearly a year while the overall private sector posted the fastest growth in 32 months. The S&P Global final Japan Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 53.7 in January from 51.6 in December, marking the 10th consecutive month of growth and slightly higher than a flash reading of 53.4.
Gold Prices
Gold prices stabilized after climbing more than 6% in the previous session. Gold price was little changed at $4,944.66 an ounce, while silver price edged down 0.8% to $84.48.
Crude Oil Prices
Crude oil prices rose for a second day as US-Iran geopolitical tensions escalated. Brent crude oil price rallied 1.55% to $67.33 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 1.04% to $63.87.
Bitcoin Prices
Bitcoin prices fell to its lowest since Donald Trump retook the White House a little more than a year ago. Bitcoin price fell as much as 7% to $72,877 Tuesday, its lowest since November 6, 2024, before regaining some ground to trade at $75,800 early on Wednesday. Bitcoin price is down about 13% for the year.
(With inputs from agencies)
