Stock Market LIVE Updates: GIFT Nifty signals slight downside at open for India; China stocks fall

Stock Market LIVE Updates, Friday, October 11, 2024: GIFT Nifty futures, trading at 25,088 around 7:30 AM, slightly below Nifty futures’ last close, indicated a muted start for markets in India on Friday.

Benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 had ended in the green on Thursday. 

The BSE Sensex climbed 140.75 points, or 0.17 per cent, to close at 81,607.55, while the NSE Nifty 50 settled at 24,998.45, up 16.50 points, or 0.07 per cent.

Across sectors, the Bank Nifty and PSU Bank indices outperformed other sectoral indices, each closing 1 per cent higher. Financial Services, Auto, and Metal stocks also ended in the green.

That apart, the IT, Pharma, FMCG, and Healthcare indices were the top laggards for the day among sectoral indices, with losses extending up to 2.01 per cent.

Meanwhile, markets in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed on Friday, diverging from the lower close on Wall Street overnight, which saw key benchmarks slide as investors digested a persistently increasing US inflation report.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 0.7 per cent, while the broad-based Topix edged up 0.40 per cent.

South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.49 per cent and the small cap Kosdaq added 0.36 per cent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was ahead by 2.98 per cent, while mainland China’s Shanghai Composite was down 1.16 per cent and the CSI 300 was down 2.22 per cent.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.15 per cent.

That apart, global stocks were little changed while longer-dated US Treasury yields edged up in choppy trading on Thursday as investors weighed the interest rate path from the Federal Reserve after economic data and comments from central bank officials.

US consumer prices rose slightly more than expected in September as food costs rose, but the annual increase in inflation was the smallest in more than 3-1/2 years. 

The Labor Department said the consumer price index increased 0.2 per cent last month after gaining 0.2 per cent in August, slightly above expectations of economists polled by Reuters for a 0.1 per cent rise.

In the 12 months through September, the CPI rose 2.4 per cent versus the 2.3 per cent estimate.

Other data showed weekly initial jobless claims jumped 33,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 258,000, well above the 230,000 estimate, although the climb was partially attributed to distortions from Hurricane Helene.

The data helped initially solidify expectations the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month, but expectations retreated slightly to a nearly 80 per cent chance for a cut of 25 basis points (bps) after comments from several Federal Reserve officials, from nearly 90 per cent immediately after the numbers were released, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool. Expectations for the 25 bp cut then increased again and were last at 86.3 per cent.

Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he would be “totally comfortable” skipping an interest-rate cut at an upcoming meeting of the US central bank, adding that the “choppiness” in recent data on inflation and employment may warrant leaving rates on hold in November.

The market had been pricing in a 32.1 per cent chance for another outsized cut of 50 bps a week ago.

On Wall Street, stocks ended lower but off their worst levels of the session, with the rate-sensitive real estate index the worst-performing of the 11 major S&P sectors.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 57.88 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 42,454.12, the S&P 500 fell 11.99 points, or 0.21 per cent, to 5,780.05, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 9.57 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 18,282.05.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe slipped 0.18 point, or 0.02 per cent, to 848.46, as it pared earlier declines. 

In Europe, the STOXX 600 index closed down 0.18 per cent ahead of France’s 2025 budget.

Markets have been dialing back expectations the Fed will be aggressive in cutting interest rates after Friday’s strong US payrolls report. 

Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other central bank officials have signaled the Fed has shifted its primary focus from combating inflation to labour market stability.

The yield on benchmark US 10-year notes inched up 0.4 basis point to 4.071 per cent after reaching 4.12 per cent, while the 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, fell 5.6 basis points to 3.962 per cent.

The dollar index fell 0.03 per cent to 102.85 after earlier rising as much as 0.27 per cent.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar weakened 0.51 per cent to 148.53. Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino said on Thursday the central bank will consider raising interest rates if the board has “greater confidence” that its economic and price forecasts will be realised.

Oil prices jumped after two sessions of decline, boosted by a spike in fuel demand as Hurricane Milton slammed into Florida, with Middle East supply risks and signs that demand from the US and China could increase also providing support.

US crude settled up 3.56 per cent to $75.85 a barrel and Brent rose to settle at $79.40 per barrel, up 3.68 per cent on the day.

(With inputs from Reuters.)