8 Key Market Changes You Should Know: Gift Nifty, US Retail Sales, ECB Rate Cut, and Q2 Results

The Indian stock market, including Sensex and Nifty 50, is expected to open lower on Friday due to mixed global signals and continued foreign investor selling (FII). Asian markets showed mixed performance, while the US market ended mostly higher after strong economic data.

On Thursday, the Indian market had its third straight day of losses, with Nifty 50 falling below the 24,800 level. Sensex dropped 494.75 points (0.61%) to close at 81,006.61, and Nifty 50 slipped 221.45 points (0.89%) to end at 24,749.85.

According to Siddhartha Khemka from Motilal Oswal Financial Services, market sentiment is weighed down by rising inflation, continuous FII selling, and poor Q2 earnings. Moving forward, the market is likely to stay range-bound due to mixed global factors and a lack of local triggers.

Here are the major market developments:

1. Asian Markets:

Asian markets were mixed on Friday, following gains on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.5%, Topix was up 0.34%, while South Korea’s Kospi was flat. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng futures pointed to a lower opening.

2. Gift Nifty Today:

Gift Nifty was trading around 24,740, about 100 points lower than Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a weak start for the Indian market.

3. Wall Street Performance:

US markets mostly rose on Thursday, thanks to strong retail sales data. The Dow Jones hit another record high, closing up 161.35 points (0.37%) at 43,239.05. The S&P 500 fell slightly by 1 point (0.02%) to 5,841.47, while the Nasdaq added 6.53 points (0.04%) to close at 18,373.61.

Some notable stock movements include:

• TSMC shares rose 9.8%.
• Nvidia was up 0.9%.
• Netflix gained 5% after hours.
• Elevance Health dropped 10.6%.

4. ECB Rate Cut:

The European Central Bank (ECB) cut interest rates for the third time this year. The deposit rate was reduced by 25 basis points to 3.25%.

5. US Retail Sales:

US retail sales were stronger than expected in September, rising 0.4% compared to a 0.1% gain in August. Economists had forecast a 0.3% increase.

6. US Jobless Claims:

Fewer Americans filed for unemployment last week. Claims fell by 19,000 to 241,000, surprising economists who had predicted 260,000.

7. Q2 Results – Infosys and Wipro:

• Infosys: Q2 profit rose to ₹6,506 crore, up 2.2% from the previous quarter. Revenues grew 4.3% to ₹40,986 crore. The company raised its full-year revenue growth outlook to 3.75%–4.5%.
• Wipro: IT services revenue grew 1.4% to ₹22,196 crore. Wipro also announced a 1:1 bonus share issue.

8. Gold Prices Today:

Gold prices remained steady near record highs. Spot gold was priced at $2,694.99 per ounce, close to its record of $2,696.59.

These factors are expected to influence market movements today, with Nifty and Sensex likely to open on a negative note.