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Benchmark equity indices opened on a positive note on Friday
Sensex, Nifty Today
Stock Market Updates: Benchmark equity indices opened on a positive note on Friday. The BSE Sensex started at 76,889, gaining 129.08 points or 0.17% from its previous close of 76,759.81. Similarly, the NSE Nifty50 opened 47.25 points or 0.20% higher at 23,296.75, compared to its prior close of 23,249.50.
Global Cues
Asian markets mostly advanced on Friday, following gains on Wall Street overnight. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.08%, while the broader Topix index gained 0.04%.
In Japan, the consumer price index, excluding fresh food, climbed 2.5% year-on-year in January, matching Reuters’ forecast, up from 2.4% in the previous month. Retail sales in Japan for December grew by 3.7%, and industrial output rose by 0.3% month-on-month in December, recovering from a 2.2% drop the previous month.
South Korea’s markets saw a decline, with the KOSPI down 1.04% after a four-day break, and the small-cap KOSDAQ lost 0.55%. In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.55%.
Meanwhile, U.S. GDP for the December quarter increased by 2.3% annually, slightly below the expected 2.6%. Wall Street ended higher, driven by strong corporate earnings reports from the previous quarter.
Gold prices surged to a record high, and the U.S. dollar strengthened amid risks stemming from President Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday after digesting key earnings reports, with the Dow Jones rising by 0.4%, the S&P 500 increasing by 0.5%, and the Nasdaq gaining about 0.25%. However, technology stocks, such as Nvidia and Broadcom, faced significant declines due to concerns about low-cost Chinese AI models.
U.S. economic growth slowed in Q4 but remained robust enough to suggest that the Federal Reserve would only make gradual rate cuts. The U.S. Treasury yield fell by 3.9 basis points to 4.516%.
President Trump’s trade policies continue to present risks for the Fed’s outlook, with tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and possibly China expected on Saturday. Both the Mexican peso and the Canadian dollar weakened by about 0.5% against the U.S. dollar in response to this news.
The European Central Bank cut interest rates on Thursday, reiterating that inflation in the eurozone is increasingly under control despite global trade concerns. The STOXX 600 index in Europe hit a new record high, rising 0.86%, following earnings reports from Deutsche Bank, Shell, and H&M.
The yen strengthened by 0.65% to 154.25 per dollar, with the Bank of Japan signaling continued interest rate hikes if economic conditions align with forecasts.
In commodities, gold prices surged by about 1.3% to reach $2,792 an ounce, setting a new record as the dollar weakened. Oil prices also saw a slight rise, with Brent crude up 0.4% at $76.87 per barrel, and U.S. crude rising 0.2% to $72.73 per barrel, despite concerns over potential U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican crude imports.
