Anxiety continues to dominate global markets. Although US technology stocks staged a strong rally overnight, broader investor sentiment remains cautious. Markets are now waiting for a series of economic indicators due this week to chart their direction. The uncertainty surrounding the India–US trade agreement is adding to the nervousness; while everyone expects a deal “at some point,” no one is willing to commit to a timeline.
President Donald Trump’s phone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping and the announcement of an April visit to China have raised fresh concerns for India. If the US shifts its stance and softens its China strategy, India fears that it could lose its current strategic advantage in trade negotiations.
Meanwhile, discussions in Geneva between US and Ukrainian representatives on terms to end the Russia–Ukraine conflict are progressing. Any breakthrough could influence everything from crude oil prices to the contours of the India–US trade deal.
In GIFT City derivatives trade, Nifty closed Monday night at 25,985, fluctuating between 26,018 and 25,971 this morning. The indication is that Indian markets may open without major movement.
Most European indices edged higher on hopes of lower US interest rates, though French and UK markets declined. Progress in Ukraine peace discussions dragged defence stocks lower for a fourth consecutive day.
BHP’s withdrawal from its attempt to acquire British mining giant Anglo American sent Anglo’s shares tumbling.
A major clinical setback hit Danish firm Novo Nordisk after its Alzheimer’s-related trial for semaglutide failed, pulling the stock down 5.8%. With several recent setbacks, Novo’s shares have fallen nearly 60% in a year.
In contrast, Bayer surged 10.9% after its blood-clot prevention drug Asundexian succeeded in its Phase 3 trial.
Google’s launch of its Gemini 3 model rekindled excitement in the AI sector, mounting a credible challenge to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Alphabet shares jumped 6.3%, pulling the entire tech basket sharply higher. The Nasdaq rose nearly 600 points, fully recovering last week’s losses.
Broadcom, Micron, Palantir, AMD, Amazon, Meta and Nvidia also rallied. With this rebound, hopes have risen that November may end on a positive note for US equities.
The Dow closed 202.86 points higher (0.44%) at 46,448.27. The S&P 500 gained 102.13 points (1.55%) to 6705.12, and the Nasdaq jumped 598.92 points (2.69%) to finish at 22,872.01.
US futures are slightly lower this morning, with the Dow down 0.15%, S&P down 0.08%, and Nasdaq down 0.10%.
Asian markets opened in the green. Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.15%, while South Korea’s Kospi surged 2.4%. Hong Kong edged up and China’s mainland markets rose 0.40%. Australia opened weak but later stabilised.
Heavy foreign investor selling ahead of monthly expiry pushed Indian markets lower. Hopes of a record-breaking rally will take longer to materialise. With the exception of IT, all major sectors declined—real estate, metals, consumer durables, oil & gas and FMCG saw sharper falls. Indices of PSU enterprises and defence stocks also posted notable losses.
Sensex fell 331.21 points (0.39%) to 84,900.71, while Nifty slipped 108.65 points (0.42%) to 25,959.50. Bank Nifty closed marginally lower at 58,835.35.
Breadth remained weak, with 1,208 BSE stocks advancing against 3,035 declining. FPIs sold ₹4,171.75 crore in the cash market, while domestic funds bought ₹4,512.87 crore.
Nifty now finds support at 25,850–25,800, with resistance at 26,100 and 26,250.
Diamond Power Infrastructure secured a ₹276-crore order from Adani Energy Solutions for 7,668 km of Zebra conductors.
Suryaroshni won a ₹105-crore order for spiral pipes.
Eris Lifesciences will merge its subsidiary Swiss Parenterals into the parent entity in a ₹423-crore deal.
Dr Reddy’s received European Commission approval for two biosimilar products for osteoporosis treatment.
A report by Spanish newspaper El País claims China has accumulated over 5,000 tonnes of gold—far higher than the officially disclosed 2,304 tonnes. The analysis, backed by British export data and commodity expert Michael Haigh’s findings, suggests China’s real purchases are nearly ten times higher than what is publicly reported. Japan’s bullion market officials also note that China is shifting aggressively from US dollar assets into gold.
Gold prices surged past last week’s US$4,000–4,100 range as expectations of a December rate cut strengthened. Spot gold closed at US$4,135.10 per ounce, up 1.5%. Prices touched US$4,145 earlier today before easing slightly.
Silver also climbed, with spot prices rising 3% to US$51.43.
Platinum trades at US$1,549, palladium at US$1,378, and rhodium at US$7,775.
Most industrial metals strengthened on rate-cut expectations. Copper rose 1% to US$10,792.65 per tonne and aluminium gained 0.69% to US$2,811. Nickel, tin and zinc moved up, while lead slipped.
Cocoa fell to US$5,035.24 amid improved West African production. Coffee rose 2%, tea was steady and palm oil eased 0.32%.
The dollar index ended at 100.14 and slipped further to 100.12 this morning. The euro climbed to US$1.1519 and the pound to US$1.3103.
The Indian rupee, which saw a steep fall on Friday, recovered 33 paise to close at 89.15. RBI intervened strongly, but uncertainty over the India–US trade deal continues to pose risks. Many fear the rupee may breach 90 if talks drag on.
China’s yuan weakened to ₹12.55.
Expectations of a prolonged Ukraine peace process lifted crude prices before they fell again. Brent rose 1.5% to US$63.89 but later slipped to US$63.20. WTI traded at US$58.73 and Murban at US$65.09. Natural gas prices stood at US$4.452.
Prospects of lower US interest rates lent support to cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin rose to US$87,920, while Ether stayed below US$2,940. Solana climbed to US$138.
