Before Market Opens: 9 essential things to know at 9 am on February 16, 2024
9 Photos . Updated: 16 Feb 2024, 08:34 AM ISTBefore Market Opens: Indian markets are likely to open flat but in the red on Friday amid lacklusture cues. However, global peers were positive in early deals. Gift Nifty was trading 12 points lower, indicating a negative start for Nifty. Let's take a look at key cues before the market opens today:
1/9U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday as retail sales data declined more than expected, feeding hopes the Federal Reserve will soon start cutting interest rates in coming months. A Commerce Department report showed U.S. retail sales dropped 0.8% in January, weighed by declines at auto dealerships and gasoline service stations. The data had investors less stressed about hotter than expected inflation data that had sent stocks lower on Tuesday. The S&P 500 gained 29.05 points, or 0.58%, to end at 5,029.67 points, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 47.03 points, or 0.30%, to 15,906.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 350.07 points, or 0.91%, to 38,774.73.
2/9
Japan's Nikkei charged toward an all-time high on Friday, helped higher by a buoyant Wall Street after a big fall in U.S. retail sales revived the chance of a June rate cut, which in turn weighed on the dollar. Nikkei surged 1.4% to 38,678 points, just within a whisker of the all-time high of 38,957 points hit in 1989 that marked the peak of Japan's so called bubble economy. The index is up 4.8% for the week, the third straight week of gains, bringing the year-to-date gains to a staggering 15.6%. Elsewhere, Asian shares mostly tracked Wall Street higher. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3% and was headed for a 1.4% weekly gain.
