Indian stock market: 8 key things that changed for market overnight - Gift Nifty, US jobless claims to oil prices

Indian stock market: The domestic equity market indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open lower and remain volatile on Friday following mixed cues from global markets. Both the equity indices witnessed a sharp downfall of over 2% in the previous session.

Asian markets traded mixed, while the US stock market ended lower overnight as investors remained cautious amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East with the Israel- Iran war.

On Thursday, the Indian stock market crashed, with the benchmark indices marking its worst intraday drop in two months as investor sentiment soured amid Iran - Israel war.

The Sensex slumped 1,769.19 points, or 2.10%, to close at 82,497.10, while the Nifty 50 settled 546.80 points, or 2.12%, lower at 25,250.10.

“Global factors like the surge in Brent crude prices, escalation in the Middle-East War, and potential outflow of FIIs from India to China dampened sentiments. We expect the market to witness volatility in the near term with stock-specific action as the companies will announce pre-quarterly updates,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:

Asian Markets

Asian markets traded mixed on Friday tracking overnight losses on Wall Street amid concerns over Middle East tensions.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.34%, while the Topix rose 0.41%. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.19%, while the Kosdaq rallied 0.74%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a lower opening. Markets in mainland China are shut and will reopen on October 8.

Gift Nifty Today

Gift Nifty was trading around 25,410 level, a discount of nearly 65 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a negative start for the Indian stock market indices.

Wall Street

US stock market ended lower on Thursday amid cautiousness on the growing conflict in the Middle East.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 184.93 points, or 0.44%, to 42,011.59, while the S&P 500 declined 9.58 points, or 0.17%, to 5,699.96. The Nasdaq Composite ended 6.65 points, or 0.04%, lower at 17,918.48.

The Cboe Volatility index, Wall Street's fear gauge, rose to 20.49, its highest closing level since September 6.

US Jobless Claims

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits rose marginally last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 6,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 225,000 for the week ended September 28. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 220,000 claims for the latest week.

US Services PMI

US services sector activity jumped to a 1-1/2-year high in September amid strong growth in new orders. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said that its non-manufacturing purchasing managers (PMI) index accelerated to 54.9 last month, the highest level since February 2023, from 51.5 in August. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the services PMI rising to 51.7.

Oil Prices

Crude oil prices traded higher amid Middle East conflict and the potential disruption in crude flows.

Brent crude futures rose 0.12% to $77.71 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained 0.11% to $73.79 a barrel. Both benchmarks were on track for weekly gains of about 8%.

Dollar

The dollar rose to a six-week high on Thursday. The dollar index was up 0.23% at 101.91 and reached 102.09, the highest since August 19. It hit a 14-month low of 100.15 on September 27.

FII Selling

On Thursday, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold Indian shares worth ₹15,243.27 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) net purchased shares to the tune of ₹12,913.96 crore, as per provisional data available on the exchanges.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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