Indian stock market: 6 key things that changed for market overnight – Gift Nifty, Wall Street rally to US tech earnings

Asian markets traded higher, while the US stock market indices rallied overnight amid upbeat earnings from tech heavyweights like Meta Platforms and Amazon.

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On Thursday, the Indian stock market indices ended lower after the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Interim Budget 2024 for the financial year FY25. The government continued to focus on consolidating the fiscal deficit and investing in infrastructure. 

The Sensex declined 106.81 points, or 0.15%, to close at 71,645.30, while the Nifty 50 settled 28.25 points, or 0.13%, lower at 21,697.45.

“With two major events (US Federal Reserve policy and Interim Budget) now behind, we expect markets to take support from the ongoing earning season and should remain in positive territory,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:

Asian Markets

Asian markets traded higher on Friday tracking overnight rally on Wall Street.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.45%, while the Topix rose 0.13%. South Korea’s Kospi rallied 1.04%, and the Kosdaq also jumped 1.16%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a higher opening.

Also Read: Buy or sell: Vaishali Parekh recommends three stocks to buy today — February 2

Gift Nifty 

Gift Nifty was trading around 21,903 level, as compared with Nifty futures’ previous close of 21,741.00, indicating a gap-up start for the Indian stock market indices.

Wall Street

US stock market indices rebounded and ended higher on Thursday, with the tech-laden Nasdaq rallying the most, amid a broad rally as investors looked to a spate of high-profile earnings and ahead of Friday’s employment report.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.97% to 38,519.84, while the S&P 500 rallied 1.25% to end the session at 4,906.19. The Nasdaq ended 1.30% higher at 15,361.64.

Among stocks, Meta Platforms jumped as much as 15% and Amazon shares gained around 9%, while Apple stock price dropped 3% in post-market trading. Merck rallied 4.6%, Qualcomm declined 5.0%, while Honeywell shares dipped 2.4%.

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Tech Earnings

Apple reported China sales that missed Wall Street estimates, overshadowing overall sales and profit that beat analysts’ targets. Apple’s sales in the quarter ended December were at $119.58 billion and profit of $2.18 per share, both above analyst expectations, Reuters reported. However, iPhone sales in mainland China were down “mid-single digits” in the quarter.

Meta Platform’s revenue rose 25% to $40.1 billion for the quarter ended December 31, while earnings per share rose more than 200% to $14 billion, or $5.33 per share, exceeding expectations. Meta Platforms issued its first dividend that would be 50 cents per share. It also announced it had authorized an additional $50 billion in share repurchases. 

Amazon.com beat fourth-quarter revenue expectations as its sales rose 14% to $170 billion and adjusted profit of $1 per share beat an average estimate of 80 cents per share.

Meta Platforms and Amazon.com added a combined $280 billion in stock market value late on Thursday after their quarterly results impressed investors, while Apple’s value shrank by $70 billion after its earnings release.

Also Read: Amazon and Meta surge after results, while Apple drops

US manufacturing recovers

US manufacturing stabilized in January amid a rebound in new orders. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its manufacturing PMI increased to 49.1 last month from a slightly downwardly revised 47.1 in December. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index dipping to 47.0 from the previously reported 47.4.

Oil prices

Crude oil prices headed for the biggest weekly loss since early November as negotiations advanced for an agreement to pause the Israel-Hamas war, Bloomberg reported. West Texas Intermediate rose above $74 a barrel on Friday, but was still down almost 5% for the week. Brent tumbled and was trading below $80 a barrel.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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Published: 02 Feb 2024, 07:14 AM IST