Global markets were weighing the implications of the recent meeting between the presidents of the United States and China, which many analysts see as signalling a realignment in global power equations. US President Donald Trump’s repeated reference to the US-China grouping as a “G2” — both before and after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping — has raised speculation of a new global order.
While not an alliance, the idea of the US and China treating each other as equals is being viewed as a potential challenge for countries such as India. Concerns that this could complicate India’s ongoing trade negotiations with the US are not unfounded. If markets factor in these worries, the indices’ ambitions may be dampened.
Asian markets opened higher on Monday, with US futures also rising sharply, setting a positive tone for Indian equities. However, the “G2” shadow could limit the upside.
Crude oil prices advanced after OPEC decided against raising production from December, citing adequate global supply. Meanwhile, China’s withdrawal of tax concessions on gold has raised concerns that demand may soften in the world’s largest gold market.
Despite fresh warnings that US equities could face another downturn, futures were trading higher early today.
India and the US are also awaiting October PMI data, which will show trends in manufacturing and industrial output. India’s October GST collections were disappointing — domestic sales tax revenue rose only 2 percent, while import duty collections were up 13 percent, helping lift the overall figure.
In the derivatives market, GIFT Nifty closed at 25,897.00 on Friday and opened at 25,832 today, climbing briefly to 25,870 before easing. The indicator suggests a muted opening on Monday for Indian equities with mild losses.
European markets closed on Friday in the red. Inflation in the euro area eased to 2.1 percent, slightly below expectations, while GDP for the eurozone grew 0.2 percent — better than projected.
US indices ended higher on Friday, buoyed by strong third-quarter earnings from Amazon, which helped lift markets to fresh October highs. Continued investment in artificial intelligence and easing trade tensions between the US and China added momentum.
The S&P 500 rose 2.3 percent, the Dow Jones gained 2.5 percent, and the Nasdaq surged 4.7 percent for the month.
Amazon’s cloud business revenue grew over 20 percent — the fastest pace since 2022, CEO Andy Jassy said. The stock closed 9.6 percent higher. Tesla, Oracle, Netflix, and Palantir also posted gains.
Of the 300 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far, 80 percent beat analyst expectations. Over 100 more firms, including AMD and Palantir, are set to report this week.
Historically, the S&P 500 has averaged a 1.8 percent rise in November since 1950. Yet, concerns persist that tariff-induced inflation could hurt retail sales and travel during the upcoming holiday season.
After a volatile session, the Dow closed 40.75 points (0.09 percent) higher at 47,562.87, the S&P 500 gained 17.86 points (0.26 percent) to 6,840.20, and the Nasdaq advanced 143.81 points (0.61 percent) to 23,724.96.
US futures were trading higher this morning — Dow up 0.24 percent, S&P 0.32 percent, and Nasdaq 0.39 percent.
Most Asian markets surged on Friday following signs of a US-China understanding. Japan’s Nikkei and Topix rose 2 percent in early trade to record highs. Nvidia announced plans to expand investment in South Korea and collaborate with Hyundai on driverless cars, pushing Hyundai’s stock up 10 percent.
Korea’s index gained another 1 percent today. Hong Kong opened higher while Chinese markets edged lower after PMI data showed factory output contracted again in October.
Indian equities ended the last week of October in the red, with benchmark indices down 0.3 percent on Friday. Despite multiple attempts, the Nifty could not sustain above 26,000, facing selling pressure near record levels. After four straight weeks of gains, the Nifty ended its fifth week with losses.
Broader indices also fell, with mid cap, small cap, and Bank Nifty down nearly half a percent each. Except for PSU banks and oil & gas, all sectors ended lower.
The Nifty fell 155.75 points (0.60 percent) to 25,722.10, Sensex dropped 465.75 points (0.55 percent) to 83,938.71, and Bank Nifty slipped 254.75 points (0.44 percent) to 57,776.35. The Nifty Midcap 100 declined 0.45 percent and the Smallcap 100 lost 0.48 percent.
Market breadth remained negative: on BSE, 1,722 stocks advanced while 2,436 declined; on NSE, 1,263 gained and 1,802 fell.
Foreign investors continued selling, offloading shares worth ₹6,769 crore in the cash segment on Friday, while domestic funds bought ₹7,068 crore. However, FIIs were net buyers for the week, with October inflows totalling ₹8,696 crore in equities and debt combined — a reversal from January–September, when they had pulled out ₹1.39 lakh crore.
Technically, analysts say the Nifty remains in a bearish zone, having repeatedly failed to cross 26,100. Strong support is seen around 25,600 and 25,350, while resistance is expected at 25,890 and 25,950.
Bharat Earth Movers: Shares will split today; one ₹10 share will become two ₹5 shares. Q2 results are due Wednesday.
CDSL: Q2 revenue fell 1 percent and net profit declined 13.6 percent.
Urban Company: Posted a wider loss of ₹59.3 crore despite 37 percent revenue growth.
Azad Engineering: Reported a 30.6 percent rise in revenue and a 60 percent jump in net profit.
JK Cement: Revenue up 18 percent, operating profit up 57 percent, net profit up 27.6 percent.
CenSAR Technologies: Marginal rise in both revenue (2.6 percent) and profit.
Titagarh Rail Systems: Won a ₹2,481 crore contract for the Mumbai Metro project.
Hindustan Unilever: Asked to pay an additional ₹1,986 crore in income tax for FY21.
Gold prices eased over the weekend but managed to close above $4,000 per ounce, offering some relief to bulls. Analysts remain divided — while some see the correction phase as over, others expect further weakness.
At the London Global Precious Metals Conference, experts forecast gold could hit $5,000 by end-2026, with HSBC, Bank of America, Société Générale, and Metals Focus among those projecting similar targets.
Central bank gold purchases dropped to 200 tonnes in Q3, raising concerns that 2025 buying may fall below 900 tonnes, compared to over 1,000 tonnes in each of the past three years.
Gold touched $4,045 on Friday before slipping to $3,971 and closing at $4,003.10, down $22.50. Prices fell further to $3,962 early today before rebounding to $3,990 after China withdrew VAT concessions on gold sales.
In Kerala, 22-carat gold rose ₹1,320 on Friday to ₹90,400 per sovereign, before easing ₹200 to ₹90,200 on Saturday.
Silver prices also slipped, closing at $48.72 and falling to $48.30 early today.
Rubber prices fell 0.91 percent to 177.70 cents per kg. Cocoa gained 1.54 percent to $6,151 per tonne, coffee rose 0.27 percent, tea remained steady, and palm oil declined 1.29 percent.
The US dollar strengthened after the Fed policy review. The dollar index rose to 99.84 from 99.80. The euro slipped to $1.1534, the pound to $1.3145, and the yen weakened to 154 per dollar.
US 10-year bond yields briefly rose to 4.1 percent before easing to 4.083 percent.
The rupee weakened seven paise on Friday to close at 88.77 per dollar. China’s yuan remained stable at 7.11 per dollar.
Oil prices turned higher after OPEC decided not to increase production from December. Brent crude rose to $65.13 a barrel after closing at $64.77 on Friday. WTI traded at $61.33 and Murban at $67.37. Natural gas eased to $4.10 from $4.25.
Cryptocurrencies slipped after minor weekend gains. Bitcoin fell below $110,300, Ether held above $3,890, and Solana traded around $188.