The longest government shutdown in US history — lasting 43 days — has officially ended. Both Houses of Congress passed the bill, which President Donald Trump signed into law. The development gave a notable boost to US market futures, while gold prices dipped and cryptocurrencies rose. Early signs suggest Asian markets, which showed initial weakness, are stabilising, and Indian markets are expected to benefit from the positive global sentiment.
In India, retail inflation fell sharply to 0.25% in October, marking the lowest rate in 13 years. This decline has strengthened expectations that the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee may opt for a rate cut in its next meeting. However, the core inflation rate, which excludes food and fuel, remains at 4.50%, signalling that underlying price pressures persist.
Meanwhile, political attention is on Bihar, where election results will be announced on Thursday morning. Exit polls have predicted a major victory for the NDA, but uncertainty remains until the official results are out. Several brokerage firms have cautioned that if the outcome diverges sharply from exit poll predictions, the market could see a correction of over 5%. Bulls, however, remain optimistic.
In the derivatives market, the Nifty closed at 25,942.00 on Wednesday night and briefly climbed to 25,960 early Thursday before easing slightly. Indicators suggest the Indian market may open with marginal losses.
European markets closed higher on Wednesday, with the exception of the UK, where political unease is brewing within the Labour Party. Reports suggest that internal moves are underway against Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Speculation is that senior ministers — including Wes Streeting (Health), Ed Miliband (Energy) and Shabana Mahmood (Home Affairs) — are considering leadership bids if Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ upcoming November 26 budget increases taxes on middle-income workers. The political uncertainty weighed on UK government bonds, pushing their prices lower.
With concerns over the US shutdown easing, markets moved in mixed directions. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 48,000 for the first time, while technology-heavy Nasdaq ended in mild decline for the second straight day. Chipmaker AMD jumped 9% on strong growth projections, but Amazon, Apple, and Tesla shares slipped. Nvidia gained marginally during trading but later fell, while Cisco posted strong post-market results, rising over 7% after announcing better-than-expected growth.
By the close, the Dow Jones was up 326.86 points (0.68%) at 48,254.82, the S&P 500 added 4.31 points (0.06%) to 6,850.92, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 61.84 points (0.26%) to 23,406.46. Futures trading on Thursday showed further gains: Dow up 0.18%, S&P 0.16%, and Nasdaq 0.34%.
Asian markets opened mixed. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.50%, while SoftBank, which plunged 10% the previous day, fell another 5%. Australia’s ASX was down 0.75%, and both Hong Kong and Chinese indices opened lower.
The Indian market gained strongly on Wednesday, supported by the NDA’s projected win in Bihar exit polls. The upbeat sentiment helped the Sensex and Nifty open higher and extend gains through the session, although profit-booking later pulled the indices off their peaks. Asian Paints’ better-than-expected quarterly results also lifted investor sentiment.
The Nifty climbed 180.85 points (0.70%) to close at 25,875.80, while the Sensex advanced 595.19 points (0.71%) to 84,466.51. The Bank Nifty rose 0.23% to 58,274.65. Broader markets also gained, with the Midcap 100 up 0.79% and the Smallcap 100 up 0.82%.
Market breadth remained positive — on the BSE, 2,447 stocks advanced while 1,764 declined; on the NSE, 1,918 gained and 1,174 fell. Foreign investors continued to sell, recording ₹1,750.03 crore in net sales, while domestic funds bought ₹5,127.12 crore worth of equities.
Analysts believe the market has returned to bullish control, with the Nifty likely to target the 26,100–26,200 range, while support levels remain strong at 25,700.
Several major companies are set to announce quarterly results on Thursday, including Ather Industries, Alkem Labs, Apollo Tyres, Eicher Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Muthoot Finance, IRCTC, Voltas, and Vishal Mega Mart.
Among the highlights from Wednesday’s results:
Tata Steel reported an 8.9% increase in revenue and a threefold rise in net profit to ₹3,183 crore, with operating profit jumping 45%.
SpiceJet’s loss widened to ₹621 crore, with revenue falling 13.4%.
Kochi Shipyard saw its profit drop 43% to ₹107.5 crore due to lower income.
IRCTC posted a 7.7% rise in revenue and 11% growth in profit.
Nazar Technologies reported an 885 crore profit, aided by a one-time revaluation gain in its gaming subsidiary Nodwin Gaming.
Prestige Estates saw profit jump 124%, supported by higher operating margins.
Meanwhile, Mahindra & Mahindra announced a 50:50 joint venture with Manulife to enter the life insurance sector, each committing ₹1,250 crore over five years.
After surging to $4,210.50 per ounce, gold prices eased as the US shutdown ended and investors reassessed the outlook for Federal Reserve rate cuts. Market participants are divided — some expect that continued rate cuts will push gold higher, while others argue that easing may benefit equity markets instead.
Gold settled $68.50 (1.66%) higher at $4,196.40 on Wednesday, before slipping slightly in early Thursday Asian trade to $4,180, then rebounding to $4,195. In Kerala, 22-carat gold fell ₹240, settling at ₹92,040 per sovereign.
Silver surged nearly 5% to $53.23 per ounce, later touching $53.46. Platinum stood at $1,600, palladium at $1,453, and rhodium at $7,925.
Base metals extended gains, with copper up 0.52% to $10,833 per tonne and aluminium up 0.70% to $2,894.50. Zinc, lead, and tin also rose, while nickel declined.
Crude oil prices fell sharply, with Brent dropping 4% to $62.68 per barrel. WTI traded at $58.23, while Murban crude stood at $64.54. Natural gas remained flat at $4.55.
The US Dollar Index fluctuated between 99.50 and 99.71, closing marginally lower. The euro strengthened to $1.1591, the pound rose to $1.313, and the yen appreciated to 154.72 per dollar.
Cryptocurrencies rose following the US shutdown resolution. Bitcoin traded just above $102,300, Ether hovered around $3,450, and Solana climbed to $154.