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Asian markets traded lower while the US stock market ended mixed overnight after a slew of hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials and strong economic data suggested the central bank was unlikely to cut interest rates in the near future.
Market expectations for a rate cut of at least 25 bps in June have shrunk to 15.2%, according to CME’s FedWatch Tool, with July standing at 41.5% down from 48.4% a week ago, Reuters reported.
On Thursday, the Indian stock market indices continued to reel under selling pressure and closed lower for the fourth consecutive session amid mixed global cues. Nifty recorded the worst losing streak since October 26, 2023.
The Sensex dropped 454.69 points, or 0.62%, to end at 72,488.99, while the Nifty 50 index settled 152.05 points, or 0.69%, lower at 21,995.85.
“Markets witnessed frenzied selling towards the closing stages in a highly volatile trading session, as concerns over fading rate cut hopes and persisting FII fund exodus from local stocks dampened investors’ sentiment. Even as the Indian economy has been resilient and managed to dodge global worries, worries of stubborn inflation, rising instances of geo-political tensions and delay in interest rate cut has fuelled profit-taking over the past few weeks,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.
Also Read: Buy or sell: Vaishali Parekh recommends three stocks to buy today — April 19
Here are key domestic and global market cues for Sensex today:
Asian Markets
Asian markets traded lower on Friday tracking overnight losses on Wall Street and inflation data from Japan.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.88%, while the Topix declined 1.3%. South Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.8% and the Kosdaq dipped 1.34%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a weaker opening.
Gift Nifty Today
Gift Nifty was trading around the 21,765 level, a discount of nearly 300 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a gap-down start for the Indian stock market indices.
Wall Street
The US stock market ended mixed on Thursday as investors shifted focus on the latest corporate earnings. The S&P 500 saw its fifth straight session of declines, marking the longest for the benchmark S&P index since October.
The S&P 500 fell 12.02 points, or 0.24%, to end at 5,010.19 points, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 82.35 points, or 0.52%, to 15,601.02. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 23.87 points, or 0.06%, higher at 37,777.18.
Among stocks, Netflix shares fell about 4% in extended trade after posting its quarterly results. Meta Platforms share price rose 1.54%, while Genuine Parts shares surged 11.22%.
Las Vegas Sands stock price declined 8.66% and Equifax shares tumbled 8.49%.
Also Read: Tesla shares down 39% YTD, trades below $150 as steep discounts to lure customers hurts overall sales
Netflix Earnings
Netflix blew past Wall Street expectations for the second straight quarter with its earnings per share for January through March growing to $5.28 from $2.88 a year earlier. Netflix revenue rose 14.8% to nearly $9.4 billion during the period, Reuters reported. Its operating income totaled $2.6 billion, a year-over-year increase of 54%.
US Existing Home Sales
US existing home sales fell in March amid higher interest rates and house prices. Home sales dropped 4.3% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.19 million units. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast home resales slipping to a rate of 4.20 million units. Home resales declined 3.7% on a year-on-year basis in March.
Japan Inflation
Japan’s core inflation slowed in March while staying above the Bank of Japan’s 2% target, government data showed. Japan’s core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes fresh food items, rose 2.6% in March from a year earlier after rising 2.8% in February.
Also Read: Buy the dip! JPMorgan bullish on Indian stocks, suggests making use of swings amid election volatility
US Federal Reserve
Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic said that if inflation does not continue to move toward the US central bank’’s 2% goal, as he expects it will, central bankers would need to consider an interest-rate hike, Reuters reported.
“If inflation stalls out or even starts moving in the opposite direction, away from our target, I don’t think we’ll have any other option but to respond to that,” Bostic said at the University of Miami.
Dollar, Treasury Yields
The US dollar and Treasury yields rose after strong economic data and hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve officials raised speculation that interest rates will be higher for longer.
The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six of its peers, rose 0.2% at 106.15. The index has been up 4.5% so far this year. The two-year treasury yields approached the 5% mark, while the Treasury 10-year yields rose six basis points to 4.64%.
Infosys Q4 Results
Infosys reported a net profit of ₹7,975 crore for Q4FY24, a 30% year-on-year (YoY) rise from ₹6,134 crore in the same quarter last year. Its revenue for the March 2024 quarter grew 1.3% YoY to ₹37,923 crore. Its revenues in constant currency (CC) terms remained flat YoY and declined by 2.2% QoQ. The IT major sees its revenue growth of 1-3% in constant currency terms in FY25 while it expects an operating margin of 20-22%.
Read here: Infosys Q4 result: Net profit jumps, attrition rate declined; top 5 highlights of Infosys Q4 earnings
US Initial Jobless Claims
US initial jobless claims were unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 212,000 for the week ended April 13, data showed, still higher than the forecast of 215,000.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
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Published: 19 Apr 2024, 07:14 AM IST
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