Indian stock market: The domestic equity benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open on a cautious note Friday ahead of the announcement of the RBI policy.

Global market cues remain mixed as Asian markets traded mostly lower, while the US stock market ended in the red overnight.

The Indian stock market is expected to remain volatile today ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy later today. The RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das-led Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to keep the benchmark repo rate unchanged and focus on liquidity measures following a dip in economic growth.

On Thursday, the Indian stock market benchmark indices ended a percent higher each, extending their winning streak for the fifth consecutive session.

The Sensex surged 809.53 points, or 1.00%, to close at 81,765.86, while the Nifty 50 settled 240.95 points, or 0.98%, higher at 24,708.40.

“Indian equities staged a strong rebound during the day, fuelled by robust buying in heavyweight stocks across various sectors and positive market sentiment. The upmove was further supported by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs), who turned net buyers, contributing over ₹5,000 crore in the past two sessions. While markets could start on a volatile note on Friday morning, overall we expect the uptrend to continue,” 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.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.6%, while the Topix declined 0.5%. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.05%, while the Kosdaq dropped 1.9%. Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures indicated a higher opening.

Gift Nifty Today

Gift Nifty was trading around 24,800 level, a premium of nearly 35 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a mildly positive start for the Indian stock market indices.

Wall Street

US stock market ended lower on Thursday, dragged by technology shares and as investors awaited Friday’s jobs report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 248.33 points, or 0.55%, to 44,765.71, while the S&P 500 fell 11.38 points, or 0.19%, to 6,075.11. The Nasdaq Composite ended 34.86 points, or 0.18%, lower at 19,700.26

UnitedHealth shares dropped 5.2%, while Cigna share price fell 2.3%, and Molina Healthcare stock declined 3.2%. Synopsys stock plunged 12.4%, while MicroStrategy stock price ended down 4.8%.

US Jobless Claims

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased moderately last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 224,000 for the week ended November 30. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 215,000 claims for the latest week.

OPEC

Several OPEC countries, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed to extend oil supply cuts for three months through March to avoid a sharp drop in prices in a global market. Eight OPEC countries will extend their “voluntary adjustments” of 2.2 million barrels per day until the end of March, the Vienna-based group said.

Currencies

The US dollar index, which measures the US currency against six rivals, rose 0.05% to 105.77 after slipping towards a three-week low in the previous session. The euro was down 0.05% at $1.0582. Sterling traded down 0.04% at $1.27545. The dollar was flat against the yen at 150.07.

Gold Price Today

Gold prices held steady on Friday but were headed for a second straight week of decline, Reuters reported. Spot gold was unchanged at $2,631.60 per ounce, dropping about 0.8% so far this week. US gold futures were up 0.3% to $2,654.70.

Read RBI Policy Live Updates here

(With inputs from Reuters)

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