From Gift Nifty, US-Iran war, oil prices to bond yields: 10 key things that changed for Indian stock market overnight

The Indian stock market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are likely to open on a cautious note Tuesday, following mixed cues from global markets.

Asian markets traded mixed, while the US stock market ended mostly lower overnight, amid profit-booking in technology stocks.

On Monday, the Indian stock market ended flat with a positive bias, staging a smart rebound from the day’s lows, amid buying in select heavyweights.

The Sensex closed 77.05 points, or 0.10%, higher at 75,315.04, while the Nifty 50 settled 6.45 points, or 0.03%, higher at 23,649.95.

“While signals from key sectors such as banking and IT remain mixed, we continue to recommend a stock-specific approach. Traders may focus on sectors like pharma, healthcare, energy, and metals for long opportunities, while crude-sensitive and rate-sensitive sectors could remain under pressure in the near term,” said Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:

Asian Markets

Asian markets traded mixed as oil prices fell on hopes of easing US-Iran war. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.22%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.68%, while the Topix rallied 1.16%. South Korea’s Kospi declined 1.06% and the Kosdaq was flat. Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures indicated a lower opening.

Gift Nifty Today

Gift Nifty was trading around 23,674 level, a premium of nearly 16 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a flat start for the Indian stock market indices.

Wall Street

US stock market ended mixed on Monday as investors took some profits in technology stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 159.95 points, or 0.32%, to 49,686.12, while the S&P 500 fell 5.45 points, or 0.07%, to 7,403.05. The Nasdaq Composite closed 134.41 points, or 0.51%, lower at 26,090.73.

Nvidia stock price declined 1.33%, Microsoft shares rose 0.38%, Amazon share price gained 0.27%, Apple stock price fell 0.80%, and Tesla stock price slipped 2.90%. Dominion Energy shares jumped 9.4%, NextEra shares fell 4.6% and Regeneron share price tumbled 9.8%.

US-Iran War

US President Donald Trump said he had paused a planned attack against Iran after Tehran sent a peace proposal to Washington, and that there was now a “very good chance” of reaching a deal limiting Iran's nuclear program.

Japan GDP

Japan’s economy grew at a faster-than-expected pace in the first quarter. Japan’s real gross domestic product (GDP) increased an annualised 2.1%, outstripping the median market forecast for a 1.7% gain and a revised 0.8% rise in the previous October-December quarter. On a QoQ basis, the economy grew 0.5% compared with the median market forecast for a 0.4% gain.

Fuel Price Hike

Petrol and diesel prices were increased by 90 paise per litre on Tuesday, the second increase in less than a week. Petrol price was hiked to ₹98.64 a litre from ₹97.77 per litre in the national capital. Diesel now costs ₹91.58 a litre against ₹90.67 previously.

Bond Yields

Global bonds steadied and the yields fell amid drop in oil prices. Yields on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note eased from a more than one-year high to 4.5974%, while the two-year yield was down slightly to 4.0564%. Japanese government bond yields were down across the curve, after hitting record highs in the previous session.

Crude Oil Prices

Crude oil prices fell more than 2% after Donald Trump said he had paused a planned attack on Iran. Brent futures for July delivery fell 2.25% to $109.58 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery declined 0.98% to $107.60.

Gold Rate Today

Gold prices were steady amid a weak dollar and as the prospect of a US-Iran ceasefire deal eased some inflationary concerns. Spot gold price was steady at $4,565.40 per ounce, while US gold futures for June delivery gained 0.2% to $4,567.90. Spot silver fell 0.3% to $77.58 per ounce.

Dollar

The dollar was steady amid easing fears of an escalation in the war. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, held steady at 99.026. Against the yen, the US dollar was flat at 158.895 yen. The euro was flat at $1.1650, while the British pound was down 0.1% at $1.3427. Against the Chinese yuan, the US dollar held steady at 6.798 yuan in offshore trade, Reuters reported.

(With inputs from Reuters)