Uncertainty continues to cloud West Asia, with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying that new moves against Iran are being considered and that they would be different from previous measures. The naval blockade is expected to continue for an extended period.
Crude oil prices are easing, while fresh concerns over interest rates have weighed on gold.
Asian markets are mostly higher this morning, while US markets closed at record levels on Thursday. The Indian market is expected to have a weak start today.
Gift Nifty closed at 24,467.50 on Thursday night in derivatives trading at GIFT City. It slipped to 24,376 this morning before recovering, indicating a weak opening for Indian equities.
India's merchandise exports rose 19.6 percent in July to a record $44.24 billion. Imports increased 17.5 percent to $76.22 billion, widening the trade deficit to $31.98 billion, its highest level in six months. Exports of petroleum products, smartphones and automobiles recorded strong growth.
For the first four months of the financial year, exports stood at $173.78 billion, while the trade deficit was $118.60 billion.
US producer-price inflation eased to 4.7 percent in July from 5.5 percent in June, better than expected.
Despite continuing uncertainty in West Asia, crude prices moved lower. The US said around 9 million barrels of crude and another 6 million barrels through pipelines are moving through the Strait of Hormuz each day. This has helped ease concerns over a global supply shortage.
US markets surged to record levels on Thursday despite continuing uncertainties. Easing producer prices following softer consumer inflation, along with falling crude prices, supported sentiment. The S&P 500 climbed to a record 7,816.70.
Software company Workday surged 18 percent following reports that private equity firm Silver Lake has begun acquisition talks. Networking major Cisco Systems fell 9 percent despite better-than-expected results as gross profit margins declined.
Elon Musk's SpaceX fell 3.33 percent, while Tesla gained 3.8 percent.
The Dow Jones rose 69.72 points, or 0.13 percent, to close at 53,839.99. The S&P 500 gained 50.49 points, or 0.65 percent, to 7,798.99. The Nasdaq Composite advanced 214.54 points, or 0.81 percent, to 26,803.03.
US futures are moving in different directions this morning.
The Dow Jones is up 22 points, or 0.04 percent.
The S&P 500 is down 5 points, or 0.06 percent.
The Nasdaq is down 46 points, or 0.15 percent.
In New York trading, HDFC Bank fell 0.04 percent during regular hours but gained 0.39 percent in after-hours trading to close at $23.19.
ICICI Bank declined 1.21 percent during regular trading and was unchanged in after-hours trading at $29.48.
Infosys gained 1.06 percent during regular trading but fell 0.24 percent in after-hours trading to $12.38.
Wipro rose 0.51 percent during regular trading and was unchanged in after-hours trading at $1.96.
European markets closed slightly lower on Thursday, with only the Euro Stoxx index ending higher.
UK second-quarter GDP growth came in at 0.4 percent, in line with expectations. The IT sector made a significant contribution to growth.
Asian markets are mostly higher today. South Korea's KOSPI has gained 1 percent, while Japan's Nikkei is up 1.2 percent. Taiwan's benchmark is marginally higher.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down 0.90 percent, while Shanghai is lower by 0.20 percent.
Problems with the auction mechanism used to determine closing prices on Indian exchanges continue.
At the end of cash-market trading on Thursday, the Sensex was down 105 points. Following the closing auction, it turned to a gain of 114 points. The Nifty's loss of 83 points was reduced to 40 points.
The Sensex recovered more than 400 points from the day's low before the final close, while the Nifty gained 84 points from its low.
Realty, IT, FMCG, consumer durables and defence stocks performed well. Metals, banks, financial services, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and oil stocks declined.
Foreign investors remained net sellers, offloading shares worth ₹510.69 crore in the cash market. Domestic funds were net buyers to the tune of ₹4,353.09 crore.
The Sensex rose 113.61 points, or 0.15 percent, to close at 78,079.96. The Nifty fell 40.10 points, or 0.16 percent, to 24,395.85. Bank Nifty declined 250.60 points, or 0.77 percent, to 57,635.25.
The Nifty Midcap 100 rose 97.15 points, or 0.15 percent, to 64,121.55, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 gained 53.45 points, or 0.27 percent, to 19,875.10.
Market breadth was evenly matched. On the BSE, 2,141 stocks advanced and 2,190 declined. On the NSE, 1,680 stocks rose and 1,679 fell.
Tata Motors' passenger vehicle revenue rose 9.3 percent in the first quarter, but net profit plunged 80.3 percent, mainly due to lower revenue from JLR and higher costs.
India Gate basmati rice exporter KRBL reported a 5.6 percent decline in revenue for the June quarter, while net profit jumped 73.16 percent.
JSW Cement's first-quarter revenue increased 21.6 percent and the company moved from a loss to a profit.
LG Electronics reported a 15.5 percent rise in first-quarter revenue and a 27.2 percent increase in net profit.
Gold prices fell sharply on Thursday as the decline in US producer prices reduced concerns about inflation and altered expectations around interest rates.
Gold, which had risen after softer consumer inflation, fell 1.30 percent to close at $4,352.30 an ounce. It declined another 1 percent this morning to around $4,310.
In Kerala, 22-carat gold fell ₹1,120 per sovereign on Thursday to ₹1,12,640.
Swiss bank UBS expects gold to cross $5,000 an ounce in the first half of next year. Lower interest rates, a weaker dollar and continued central-bank buying are expected to support prices. Central banks bought 289 tonnes of gold in the June quarter, and their purchases are expected to approach 1,000 tonnes this year.
Silver fell on Thursday to close at $64.08 an ounce and was at $64.34 this morning.
Platinum was at $1,700, palladium at $1,285 and rhodium at $8,425.
International rubber prices declined, with prices in Kerala also easing.
In Bangkok, RSS 1 fell to $282.90 per quintal and RSS 3 to $279.40. In Kerala, RSS 4 declined to ₹28,100 per quintal.
Industrial metals declined on Thursday.
Copper fell 0.63 percent to $14,284.50. Weaker demand in China weighed on copper.
Aluminium declined 1.03 percent to $3,274.50. Zinc, lead, nickel and tin also fell.
Cocoa prices edged lower on Thursday to $5,710 a tonne.
Ghana's Cocoa Board expects production to fall 16 percent due to adverse weather conditions. Production in Ivory Coast is also expected to decline by more than 10 percent. These are the world's two largest cocoa-producing countries. Production across Asia and Latin America is also estimated to fall by around 100,000 tonnes.
Arabica coffee prices fell 2.05 percent to $3.13 a pound. There are concerns that El Niño could reduce production next year.
The US Dollar Index declined on Thursday to close at 99.96 and fell further to 99.88 this morning.
The euro rose to $1.1534, while the pound fell to $1.3493. The Japanese yen stood at 159.41 to the dollar, while the Chinese yuan strengthened to 6.74 per dollar.
The yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds eased to 4.647 percent this morning.
The Indian rupee ended lower on Thursday, with the dollar gaining 11 paise to close at ₹95.44.
In the offshore non-deliverable forward (NDF) market, the dollar was at ₹95.40 this morning. The Chinese yuan rose to ₹14.15 and the euro to ₹110.12.
Crude oil prices eased on Thursday. Brent crude fell 2.15 percent to close at $87.07 a barrel.
This morning, Brent was at $86.79 a barrel, while WTI crude was at $80.98.
Cryptocurrencies are showing modest gains today.
Bitcoin rose above $63,440 this morning. Ether was above $1,885, while Solana traded above $75.80.
Sensex 78,079.96 +0.15%
Nifty 50 24,395.85 -0.16%
Bank Nifty 57,635.25 -0.43%
Nifty Midcap 100 64,121.55 +0.15%
Nifty Smallcap 100 19,875.10 +0.27%
Dow Jones 53,839.99 +0.13%
S&P 500 7,798.99 +0.65%
Nasdaq 26,803.03 +0.81%
Dollar ₹95.44 +₹0.11
Gold (ounce) $4,350.60 -$57.40
Gold (sovereign) ₹1,12,640 -₹1,120
Brent crude $87.07 -$1.9