Indian stock market: 10 key things that changed for market overnight – Gift Nifty, US stocks sell-off to Bitcoin reserve

Indian stock market: The domestic equity market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open lower on Friday, following weakness in global markets amid uncertainty over US trade policy.

Asian markets dropped, while the US stock market ended lower, with the Nasdaq confirming it has been in a correction since December.

On Thursday, the Indian stock market extended rally, with both the benchmark indices gaining nearly a percent each.

The Sensex jumped 609.86 points, or 0.83%, to close at 74,340.09, while the Nifty 50 settled 207.40 points, or 0.93%, higher at 22,544.70.

“The recovery is because of the incessant fall markets witnessed over the past few weeks and some of the stocks from several sectors have become attractive as their business fundamentals remain strong. However, the recovery could face disruptions as Trump’s tariff statements will continue to make investors nervous and trigger selling going ahead,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:

Asian Markets

Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 2.01%, while the Topix dropped 1.8%. Japanese government bond yields extended their climb to fresh 16-year highs. The 10-year JGB yield rose 1 basis point (bp) to 1.525% and earlier touched 1.53%, the highest level since June 2009.

South Korea’s Kospi fell 1.15%, while the Kosdaq lost 0.57%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a weaker open.

Gift Nifty Today

Gift Nifty was trading around 22,557 level, a discount of nearly 63 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 the current uncertainty surrounding US trade policy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 427.51 points, or 0.99%, to 42,579.08, while the S&P 500 dropped 104.11 points, or 1.78%, to 5,738.52. The Nasdaq Composite closed 483.48 points, or 2.61%, lower at 18,069.26.

Tesla stock price plunged 5.6%, General Motors shares declined 2.6% and Ford share price fell 0.4%. Nvidia share price dropped 5.74%, Amazon shares declined 3.68% and Microsoft stock price fell 1.03%. Marvell shares slumped nearly 20%, while Kroger stock rose 2%. Gap shares rose as much as 20% in after hours trading.

ECB Rate Cut

The European Central Bank cut interest rates as expected and kept the door ajar to more, Reuters reported. Easing for the sixth time since June, the ECB lowered its deposit rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 2.5% in a nod to slowing inflation and faltering growth.

Trump Tariffs

US President Donald Trump announced that goods from Canada and Mexico, covered by the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA), will be exempted for a month from the 25% tariffs imposed earlier this week. Trump had earlier only mentioned an exemption for Mexico, but later signed an amendment to his order that now covers Canada as well.

Bitcoin Reserve

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve. The reserve will be capitalized with bitcoin owned by the federal government that was forfeited as part of criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings, David Sacks said in a post on social media platform X.

US Trade Deficit

The US trade deficit widened to a record high in January amid front-loading of imports ahead of tariffs. The trade gap surged 34.0% to an all-time high of $131.4 billion from a revised $98.1 billion in December. The percentage change was the largest since March 2015. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade deficit soaring to $127.4 billion from the previously reported $98.4 billion in December. Imports soared 10.0% to $401.2 billion, while exports rose 1.2% to $269.8 billion.

US Jobless Claims

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 221,000 for the week ended March 1. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 235,000 claims for the latest week.

Gold Price Today

Gold prices eased but were on track for a weekly rise. Spot gold fell 0.3% to $2,900.48 an ounce. Bullion has gained 1.6% so far this week. US gold futures declined 0.6% to $2,908.70.

Crude Oil Prices

Crude oil prices were on track for the biggest weekly decline since October. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 0.33% to $66.14 a barrel, and are down 5% so far for the week, while Brent oil prices declined 0.17% to $69.34.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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