Indian stock market: 7 key things that changed for market overnight - Gift Nifty, US jobless claims to weak dollar

Indian stock market: The domestic equity indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open lower on Friday following weakness in global markets.

Asian markets traded mostly lower, while the US stock market ended mixed overnight after the release of weekly jobless claims data.

Market participants now await the US nonfarm payrolls data which will likely set the stage for the US Federal Reserve to begin cutting rates later this month.

On Thursday, the Indian stock market indices ended lower dragged by selling in select heavyweights and weak global cues.

The Sensex fell 151.48 points, or 0.18%, to close at 82,201.16, while the Nifty 50 settled 53.60 points, or 0.21%, lower at 25,145.10.

“Markets ended weak in a volatile trading session led by profit-taking in Reliance Industries. Globally, most of the equity indices were sluggish to mixed and are awaiting key US data on Friday, which would provide some hint on the Federal Reserve chief’s likely stance on the interest rate in this month’s policy announcement,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:

Asian Markets

Asian markets were mostly lower on Friday tracking mixed cues from Wall Street overnight and the release of Japan’s household spending data.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was marginally below, while the Topix fell 0.42%. South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.8%, and the Kosdaq dropped 1.41%. Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures indicated a lower opening. Mainland China’s CSI 300 futures were marginally lower.

Gift Nifty Today

Gift Nifty was trading around 25,155 level, a discount of nearly 80 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a negative start for the Indian stock market indices.

Wall Street

US stock market ended mixed on Thursday ahead of the key jobs data later today.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 219.22 points, or 0.54%, to 40,755.75, while the S&P 500 declined 16.66 points, or 0.30%, to 5,503.41. The Nasdaq Composite ended 43.37 points, or 0.25%, higher at 17,127.66.

Tesla stock price rallied nearly 5%, while Amazon share price gained 2.6%. Frontier Communications shares slumped 10% and Verizon share price dipped 0.4%. JetBlue Airways stock price jumped 7%.

US Jobless Claims

The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits declined last week as layoffs remained low. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 227,000 for the week ended August 31, the Labor Department said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 230,000 claims for the latest week.

Japan Household Spending

Japanese household spending rose less than expected in July. Consumer spending rose 0.1% in July year-on-year, compared with the median market forecast for 1.2% growth. On a seasonally adjusted, month-on-month basis, spending decreased 1.7% versus an estimated 0.2% drop.

Dollar

The US dollar sagged near a one-week low versus major peers after mixed job market data.

The dollar index, which gauges the currency against a basket of six key counterparts, was steady at 101.03, after slipping about 0.2% overnight and touching 100.96 for the first time since August 29, Reuters reported. For the week, it has dropped close to 0.7%.

Gold Rate Today

Gold prices held steady on Friday, but were headed for a weekly gain. Spot gold was around $2,516.19 per ounce, after hitting a nearly one-week high in the previous session. Bullion has risen 0.5% for the week so far. US gold futures rose 0.1% to $2,546.00.

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