Indian stock market: 8 key things that changed for market over weekend – Gift Nifty, Wall Street sell-off to weak dollar

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

Asian markets traded lower, while the US stock market declined, logging its worst session of the year on Friday.

This week, investors will monitor some key stock market triggers including, India’s economic growth data, February derivatives contracts expiry, Donald Trump’s tariff announcements, the rupee-dollar rate, flow of foreign funds, domestic and global macroeconomic data, and other key global market cues.

On Friday, the Indian stock market ended lower, extending decline for the fourth consecutive session, and marking the second consecutive weekly fall.

The Sensex fell 424.90 points, or 0.56%, to close at 75,311.06, while the Nifty 50 settled 117.25 points, or 0.51%, lower at 22,795.90.

“A combination of negative factors such as relentless FII selling, falling rupee, expensive valuations and the US threat of reciprocating tariff levies continue to drive investors away from Indian equities. In fact, local benchmarks under-performed both Asian and European indices, which logged significant gains,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:

Asian Markets

Asian markets traded lower on Monday, tracking steep losses on Friday amid weak economic data.

Japanese markets are closed for a public holiday. South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.71%, while the Kosdaq dropped 1.21%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a weaker opening.

Gift Nifty Today

Gift Nifty was trading around 22,682 level, a discount of nearly 140 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 Friday on the back of dour economic reports, new tariff threats and worries of softening consumer demand.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 748.63 points, or 1.69%, to 43,428.02, while the S&P 500 tumbled 104.39 points, or 1.71%, to 6,013.13. The Nasdaq Composite closed 438.36 points, or 2.20%, lower at 19,524.01.

Tesla share price and Rivian shares each dropped 4.7%. Nvidia stock price cracked 4.08%, while Amazon shares declined 2.83%. UnitedHealth shares dropped 7.2% and Block stock tumbled 17.7%, while Akamai Technologies shares crashed 21.7%.

US Business Activity

US business activity index fell to a 17-month low in February. S&P Global’s flash US Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 50.4 this month, Reuters reported. That was the lowest reading since September 2023 and was down from 52.7 in January.

US Consumer Sentiment

US consumer sentiment dropped more than expected in February to a 15-month low and inflation expectations rocketed. The University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to 64.7 from January’s revised final reading of 71.7. The reading, the lowest since November 2023, was lower than the preliminary reading of 67.8, which was also the consensus expectation among economists polled by Reuters.

Meanwhile households saw inflation over the next year surging to 4.3% – the highest since November 2023 – from 3.3% last month. That was unchanged from the preliminary reading two weeks ago.

Gold Price Today

Gold prices steadied near an all-time high. Spot gold was steady at $2,934.82 an ounce, while US gold futures dipped 0.1% to $2,950.10. Bullion scaled an all-time high of $2,954.69 on Thursday.

Crude Oil Prices

Crude oil prices traded lower. Brent crude oil fell 0.27% to $74.23 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declined 0.38% to $70.13.

Dollar

The US dollar extended its decline on Monday, while the euro firmed. The euro gained 0.46% to $1.0508. Against the dollar, sterling hovered near a two-month high at $1.2659, while the yen rose to its strongest level in more than two months at 148.85 per dollar.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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