Indian stock market: 8 key things that changed for market overnight – Gift Nifty, US jobless claims to treasury yields

Indian stock market: The domestic equity market indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open flat on Friday, following mixed cues from global markets amid thin trading volumes.

Asian markets traded mixed, while the US stock market also ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average stretching its winning streak to five sessions.

On Thursday, the Indian stock market ended the lacklustre session on a flat note.

The Sensex closed flat at 78,472.48, while the Nifty 50 settled 22.55 points, or 0.1%, higher at 23,750.20.

“Sentiment remains fragile with unwinding of long positions continuing, and Nifty’s strength will be confirmed only if it breaches the 24,150 resistance level,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:

Asian Markets

Asian markets traded mixed Friday, tracking muted trend overnight on Wall Street, and as investors await economic data from the region.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.51%, while the Topix rose 0.56%. South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.58% and the Kosdaq declined 0.61%.

Gift Nifty Today

Gift Nifty was trading around 23,916 level, a discount of nearly 3 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a flat start for the Indian stock market indices.

Wall Street

US stock market ended mixed on Thursday amid light trading volumes and rising US Treasury yields.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.07% to 43,325.80, while the S&P 500 eased 0.04% to 6,037.59. The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.05% lower at 20,020.357.

Tesla shares declined 1.8%, while Apple shares rose 0.3%. MicroStrategy, MARA Holdings and Coinbase Global all fell between 1.9% and 4.8%.

US Jobless Claims

The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits dipped to the lowest in a month last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell by 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 219,000 for the week ended December 21. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 224,000 claims for the latest week.

Treasury Yields

The yield on the benchmark US Treasury note pared earlier gains on Thursday following a strong seven-year note auction, after earlier rising to an eight-month high in thin holiday trading

The 10-year yield following the auction was flat at 4.588% after earlier hitting 4.641%, the highest level since May 2. The yield on the 30-year bond was just 0.5 basis points (bps) higher at 4.765%. The two-year US Treasury yield was up 0.4 bps to 4.334, after earlier reaching 4.367%.

Monthly Economic Review

India’s economy is expected to grow at around 6.5% in fiscal year 2024-25, closer to the lower end of its 6.5%-7% projection, as global uncertainties pose a dampening threat, the government said. The growth outlook for October to December appears bright, with rural demand remaining resilient and urban demand picking up in the first two months of the quarter, according to the finance ministry’s monthly economic report for November.

RBI Report

Profitability of banks improved for the sixth consecutive year in 2023-24 and their gross bad debts or NPAs declined to a 13-year low of 2.7%, according to the RBI data. “Banks’ profitability rose for the sixth consecutive year in 2023-24 and continued to rise in H1:2024-25 with the return on assets (RoA) at 1.4 per cent and return on equity (RoE) at 14.6 per cent,” said the Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2023-24.

Bank of Japan

Some Bank of Japan policymakers saw conditions falling into place for an imminent rate hike with one predicting a move “in the near future,” a summary of opinions at the bank’s December meeting showed, keeping alive the chance of a January hike, Reuters reported. The BOJ kept interest rates steady at 0.25% at this month’s meeting.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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