Indian stock market: 8 key things that changed for market over weekend - Gift Nifty, US nonfarm payrolls to oil prices
- Indian stock market: Gift Nifty was trading around 23,340 level, a discount of nearly 160 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a negative start for the Indian stock market today.
Indian stock market: The domestic equity market indices, Sensex and Nifty 50 are expected to open lower on Monday following weakness in global markets.
Asian markets declined, while the US stock market ended lower last Friday, with Wall Street’s main indexes closing their second consecutive week in the red.
The S&P 500 erased its 2025 gains after stronger-than-expected US jobs data reinforced expectations that the US Federal Reserve will likely keep interest rates elevated for longer than traders were betting on. Markets are now pricing in a single Fed rate cut no sooner than June.
This week, investors will closely monitor key stock market triggers, including the Q3 results, domestic and global macroeconomic data, trends in US dollar and Treasury yields, flow of foreign funds, crude oil prices and other key global cues.
On Friday, the Indian stock market ended lower, extending its losing streak for the third consecutive session.
The Sensex declined 241.30 points, or 0.31%, to close at 77,378.91, while the Nifty 50 settled 95.00 points, or 0.4%, lower at 23,431.50.
“Markets continued its downward trajectory as rupee scaling new lows due to strengthening dollar has further dampened investors’ sentiment. Amid concerns of subdued economic growth and expectations of a slowdown in the quarterly earnings, investors cut their bet on banking and mid & small cap stocks. With expensive valuations of Indian markets at large still a concern, investors would mostly resort to stock specific activities,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.
Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:
Asian Markets
Asian markets traded lower tracking losses on Wall Street after a strong US jobs report. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down 0.4%.
Japanese markets are closed for a holiday. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.4%, while the Kosdaq dropped 0.3%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a lower opening.
Gift Nifty Today
Gift Nifty was trading around 23,340 level, a discount of nearly 160 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a negative start for the Indian stock market today.
Wall Street
US stock market ended lower on Friday after an upbeat jobs report stoked fresh inflation fears.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 696.75 points, or 1.63%, to 41,938.45, while the S&P 500 declined 91.21 points, or 1.54%, to 5,827.04. The Nasdaq Composite ended 317.25 points, or 1.63%, lower at 19,161.63.
Nvidia shares dropped 3%, while Advanced Micro Devices stock price fell 4.76% and Apple share price declined 2.41%. Constellation Energy stock jumped 25.16%, while Constellation Brands tanked 17.09%. Walgreens Boots Alliance stock price soared 27.55%
US Nonfarm Payrolls
US job growth unexpectedly accelerated in December. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 256,000 jobs last month, the most since March, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Data for October and November was revised to show 8,000 fewer jobs added than previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls advancing by 160,000 jobs, with estimates ranging from 120,000 to 200,000.
US Unemployment Rate
The US unemployment rate fell to 4.1% in December from 4.2% in November. The jobless rate averaged 4.0% last year compared to 3.6% in 2023.
Forex Reserves at 10-Months Low
India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves plunged for the fifth consecutive week to hit a 10-month low of $634.59 billion as of January 3. RBI data showed that the forex kitty declined by $5.7 billion in the reported week after falling by a cumulative $17.8 billion in the previous three weeks. Forex reserves have fallen by about $70 billion from their all-time high of $704.89 billion in late September 2024.
US Dollar, Treasury Yields
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, rose 0.39% to 109.70. It reached as high as 109.97, its highest level since November 2022, Reuters reported.
The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes rose 8 basis points to 4.761%. It had reached as high as 4.79%, its highest level since November 2023.
Oil Prices
Crude oil prices hit the highest in more than four months after fresh US sanctions against Russia’s energy industry.
Brent crude oil rallied 2.14% to $81.47 a barrel, after surging almost 4% in the previous session, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures surged 2.26% to $78.30.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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