A fall in crude oil prices following signs of progress in US-Iran talks has improved global market sentiment. However, persistent weakness in global semiconductor stocks continues to weigh on Asian markets. Meanwhile, gold has rebounded after fresh signals from the US Federal Reserve suggested that an immediate interest rate hike is unlikely.
Gift Nifty climbed above the previous close, indicating a positive start for Indian equities despite mixed global cues. Gift Nifty, which closed at 24,162 on Wednesday, rose to 24,208 in early trade before easing slightly. The movement suggests Indian benchmark indices are likely to open with gains.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said southwest monsoon rainfall remained 38 percent below normal as of July 1.
Against the normal rainfall of 172.9 mm, the country has received only 108.1 mm so far. The IMD expects good rainfall during the first week of July, followed by a slowdown later in the month. Overall rainfall for July is projected at 94 percent of the long-term average.
Although the monsoon has expanded to more regions, nearly 75 percent of India's land area continues to face a rainfall deficit exceeding 20 percent.
The delayed rains have also affected agricultural activity. The Agriculture Ministry estimates kharif sowing was down 23 percent as of June 25 compared with last year.
Wall Street began July on a subdued note, with all three major indices ending lower. The Dow Jones briefly touched a record high during the session before giving up gains to end marginally lower. Technology shares came under renewed pressure as investors sold semiconductor stocks.
Micron and SanDisk fell around 10 percent each. In contrast, Meta Platforms surged 8.8 percent after announcing plans to monetise excess computing capacity. SpaceX-related shares also declined sharply, falling 7.8 percent to close at $157.54.
Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh acknowledged inflation risks but stopped short of signalling an imminent rate hike, easing market concerns over tighter monetary policy.
At Wednesday's close:
Dow Jones: 52,305.24 (-0.03 percent)
S&P 500: 7,483.23 (-0.22 percent)
Nasdaq Composite: 26,040.03 (-0.66 percent)
Indian ADRs traded mixed in New York.
HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank recovered in after-hours trading after modest declines during the regular session. Infosys ended little changed after early gains.
Wipro ADR plunged 16.89 percent during regular trading before recovering some losses to close at $1.9195.
The decline followed JPMorgan's downgrade of the stock to 'Underweight' and a reduction in its target price from $2.20 to $1.70. Wipro shares had already slipped 0.32 percent on the NSE on Wednesday to close at ₹169.85.
US index futures traded mixed on Thursday morning.
Dow futures fell 15 points (0.03 percent)
S&P 500 futures gained 8 points (0.10 percent)
Nasdaq futures rose 105 points (0.35 percent)
European markets closed mostly lower on Wednesday as investors reacted to geopolitical tensions in West Asia and higher energy prices. Germany's benchmark index managed to post a marginal gain.
Asian equities remained weak as the sell-off in semiconductor shares continued. South Korea's Kospi dropped around 7 percent, with SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics losing more than 8 percent each.
Japan's Nikkei fell about 2 percent, while Taiwan, Shanghai and Australia also traded lower. Hong Kong opened sharply higher before trimming gains.
Indian equities bounced back strongly after two consecutive losing sessions. Although the Sensex failed to hold above the 77,000 mark, benchmark indices closed firmly higher. IT stocks remained under pressure.
KPIT Technologies plunged 16.46 percent after warning of a significant decline in revenue this year.
Coforge dropped 6.67 percent.
The Nifty IT index lost 2.01 percent.
Metal stocks declined following weakness in global industrial metal prices.
Auto stocks gained after strong June vehicle sales, while banking, financial, realty, FMCG, capital market and media shares also advanced.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers, offloading shares worth ₹1,140.50 crore. Domestic institutional investors offset the outflows with net purchases of ₹3,159.24 crore.
Wednesday's closing levels:
Sensex: 76,922.64 (+0.58 percent)
Nifty 50: 24,005.85 (+0.59 percent)
Bank Nifty: 58,033.05 (+0.85 percent)
Nifty Midcap 100: 62,008.80 (+0.34 percent)
Nifty Smallcap 100: 18,931.05 (+0.36 percent)
Market breadth remained positive, with advancing stocks outnumbering decliners on both the BSE and NSE.
Federal Bank touched a record high of ₹332 before ending at ₹330.85, up 0.24 percent.
Muthoot Finance fell 2.88 percent and Manappuram Finance declined 2.48 percent as softer gold prices earlier in the day hurt sentiment.
Airtel's subsidiary Airtel Money launched digital financial services after receiving a Type II NBFC licence.
Indian Bank reported a 13.3 percent increase in deposits and a 13.9 percent rise in advances during the June quarter.
Dhanlaxmi Bank posted 17.1 percent growth in deposits and 26.47 percent growth in loans.
Gold prices recovered after comments from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh reduced fears of an immediate rate hike.
Weaker-than-expected US private employment data, which showed only 98,000 jobs added, also supported bullion.
Gold climbed from below $3,960 to as high as $4,115.90 an ounce before profit booking pulled it back to close at $4,032.10. It later rebounded to around $4,055 in early Thursday trade.
In Kerala, the price of 22-carat gold recovered to ₹1,04,320 per sovereign after an early decline.
Silver closed at $59.21 an ounce after briefly falling to $57 and later rose above $60.
Platinum traded at $1,591, palladium at $1,215 and rhodium at $7,550.
Industrial metals weakened on Wednesday, with the exception of tin.
Copper fell 1.28 percent to $13,169.65 per tonne, while aluminium declined 1.20 percent to $3,083.32. Zinc, lead and nickel also ended lower.
International rubber prices moved higher.
In Bangkok, RSS-1 rubber rose to $282.40 per quintal and RSS-3 to $278.95. Kerala's RSS-4 remained unchanged at ₹26,800 per quintal.
Cocoa traded at $5,076 per tonne after recent weakness triggered by higher arrivals from Ivory Coast. However, concerns over El Niño affecting West African production continue to support prices.
Coffee prices jumped 6.12 percent to $3.15 per pound.
The US Dollar Index ended Wednesday at 101.39 and edged up to 101.42 on Thursday morning.
The euro weakened to $1.1379, while sterling slipped to $1.3277. The Japanese yen traded at 162.56 per dollar and the Chinese yuan remained around 6.79 per dollar.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury rose to 4.481 percent, indicating expectations of higher interest rates over the longer term.
The Indian rupee recorded its biggest single-day decline in three weeks.
The dollar gained 59 paise to close at ₹95.25.
In the offshore non-deliverable forward market, the dollar traded around ₹95.15 on Thursday morning.
Crude oil prices declined after US President Donald Trump said talks with Iran in Doha had made good progress.
Brent crude slipped to around $70.73 a barrel, while WTI crude traded near $67.68.
Cryptocurrency prices advanced as investors concluded that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise interest rates immediately.
Bitcoin climbed above $60,100, while Ether traded above $1,615 and Solana moved above $78.
Sensex: 76,922.64 (+0.58 percent)
Nifty 50: 24,005.85 (+0.59 percent)
Bank Nifty: 58,033.05 (+0.85 percent)
Nifty Midcap 100: 62,008.80 (+0.34 percent)
Nifty Smallcap 100: 18,931.05 (+0.36 percent)
Dow Jones: 52,305.24 (-0.03 percent)
S&P 500: 7,483.23 (-0.22 percent)
Nasdaq Composite: 26,040.03 (-0.66 percent)
US Dollar/₹: ₹95.25 (+₹0.59)
Gold (per ounce): $4,032.10 (+$23.40)
Gold (22-carat, per sovereign): ₹1,04,320 (+₹160)
Brent crude: $71.57 (-$1.38)
