Indian stock market: The domestic equity market indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open on a muted note Wednesday tracking mixed cues from global markets.
Asian markets traded mixed, while US stock market indices ended mostly in the red ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.
The market is betting on a slight chance that the Fed will cut rates by at least 25 basis points at the end of its policy meeting on Wednesday, Reuters reported, but it is completely pricing in a cut for the US central bank’s September meeting, CME's FedWatch Tool showed.
On Tuesday, the Indian stock market benchmark indices ended flat with a positive bias amid profit booking at higher levels.
The Sensex gained 99.56 points, or 0.12%, to close at 81,455.40, while the Nifty 50 settled 21.20 points, or 0.09%, higher at 24,857.30.
“Nifty consolidated at higher levels, while stock-specific actions continued in the market. The 25,000 zone has been elusive for the last 2 days and once the Nifty crosses this level, it would be a euphoric moment for equity markets,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:
Asian markets traded mixed on Wednesday ahead of the Bank of Japan’s interest rate decision and China’s business activity data.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.84%, while the Topix fell 0.4%. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.48%, while the Kosdaq was flat. Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures indicated a higher opening.
Gift Nifty was trading around 24,920 level, a discount of nearly 15 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a muted start for the Indian stock market indices.
US stock market ended mixed on Tuesday weighed down by selling in chip and megacap stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 203.40 points, or 0.5%, to 40,743.33, while the S&P 500 fell 27.10 points, or 0.5%, to 5,436.44. The Nasdaq Composite ended 222.78 points, or 1.28%, lower at 17,147.42.
Microsoft shares declined about 5% after the closing bell, while Nvidia share price plunged 7.04%. Apple stock price rose 0.26%, while Amazon shares fell 0.81% and Meta shares dropped 0.54%.
Procter & Gamble share price plunged 4.84%, Merck shares tumbled 9.81%, CrowdStrike shares dropped 9.72% and F5 stock price surged 12.99%.
Microsoft share price tumbled in extended trade after the software giant reported its fourth quarter earnings with a miss on cloud revenue expectations. Microsoft reported a profit of $22 billion on $64.7 billion revenue in the quarter ended June 2024. Microsoft Corp.’s Azure cloud-computing service posted a slowdown in quarterly growth as revenue from Azure rose 29% in Q4 as compared with a 31% jump in the previous period.
Capital markets regulator Sebi has proposed a slew of near-term measures to prevent speculative trading in index derivatives, which include curbing multiple option contract expiries and increasing the size of options contracts. The seven measures suggested by the market watchdog are aimed at curbing market speculation, enhancing investor protection and ensuring greater market stability.
US job openings fell marginally in June. Job openings had dropped 46,000 to 8.184 million by the last day of June, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report showed. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 8.0 million job openings in June.
US consumer confidence unexpectedly rose in July. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index increased to 100.3 this month from a downwardly revised 97.8 in June. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index falling to 99.7 from the previously reported 100.4.
Crude oil prices traded higher, recovering from 7-week lows amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Brent crude futures rose 0.5% to $79.02 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 0.7% to $75.25 a barrel. Both Brent and WTI fell about 1.4% on Tuesday, closing at their lowest levels in seven weeks.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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