Indian stock market: 8 things that changed for market over weekend – Gift Nifty, US-China trade tensions to gold prices
Indian stock market: The domestic equity market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open higher on Monday, following positive global market cues.
Asian markets traded higher, while the US stock market rallied last week, amid signs of easing US-China trade tensions.
This week, investors will monitor key stock market triggers, including the next set of Q4 results, India-Pakistan geopolitical tensions, monthly auto sales data, flow of foreign funds, and other key global cues.
On Friday, the Indian stock market ended lower on profit booking amid growing tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack.
The Sensex fell 588.90 points, or 0.74%, to close at 79,212.53, while the Nifty 50 settled 207.35 points, or 0.86%, lower at 24,039.35.
The Pahalgam terror attack triggered caution across Indian stock market, with geopolitical tensions dragging sentiment into the red.
“Valuations in the broader space remain stretched, and amid heightened risk-off sentiment, investors were quick to unwind positions ahead of the weekend. The India VIX jumped over 6%, signalling a spike in fear and potential volatility in the near term,” said Vikram Kasat, Head – Advisory, PL Capital.
Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:
Asian Markets
Asian markets traded higher on Monday as investors await further stimulus measures from China along with developments in trade negotiations with the US. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1%.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.82%, while the Topix rallied 1.11%. South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.32% and the Kosdaq increased 0.29%.
Gift Nifty Today
Gift Nifty was trading around 24,232 level, a premium of nearly 93 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a positive start for the Indian stock market indices.
Wall Street
US stock market ended higher on Friday, notching weekly gains amid signs of easing tensions in the US-China trade dispute.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 20.10 points, or 0.05%, to 40,113.50, while the S&P 500 gained 40.44 points, or 0.74%, to 5,525.21. The Nasdaq Composite closed 216.90 points, or 1.26%, higher at 17,382.94.
Alphabet shares rose 1.7%, Nvidia share price rallied 4.30%, Intel stock plunged 6.7%, while Tesla stock price jumped 9.80%. SLB shares fell 1.2% and Charter Communications share price surged 11.4%.
US-China Trade Tensions
The US government signalled openness last week to de-escalating a trade war with China that has raised recession fears. US President Donald Trump has said talks on tariffs were taking place with China.
China exempted some US imports from its steep tariffs on Friday, a sign that the trade war between the two countries could be easing, though China quickly knocked down Trump’s assertion that negotiations were underway.
Reliance Industries Q4 Results
Reliance Industries Ltd reported a 2.4% YoY rise in consolidated net profit to ₹19,407 crore in Q4FY25 from ₹18,951 crore in the year-ago period. The company’s consolidated revenue from operations increased nearly 10% to ₹2,64,573 crore from ₹2,40,715 crore, YoY. RIL’s EBITDA grew 3.6% YoY to ₹48,737 crore, while EBITDA margin was down 16.9% from 17.8% YoY. Reliance board also recommended a dividend of ₹5.50 per share for FY25.
Direct Tax Collections
The net direct tax collection for FY25 narrowly missed the target of ₹22.37 crore. The provisional gross (before adjusting for refunds) direct tax collection for FY25 increased 15.59% YoY to ₹27.02 lakh crore. The provisional figures for net (after issuing refunds) direct tax collections rose 13.57% YoY to ₹22.26 lakh crore.
Gold Prices
Gold prices eased amid the thawing US-China trade tensions and a stronger dollar. Spot gold prices decline 0.3% to $3,309.31 an ounce. Bullion hit a record high of $3,500.05 on April 22. US gold futures rose 0.7% to $3,320.30.
US Dollar
The US dollar was steady on Monday while staying on course for its largest monthly fall in nearly 2-1/2 years. The dollar index was steady at 99.695, above last week’s low of 97.923, while the euro held at $1.1350. The dollar has edged up to 143.65 yen. Canadian dollar was steady at C$1.3874 per dollar.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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