India stock market: 5 key things that changed for market overnight – Gift Nifty, Powell’s speech to US private payrolls

Indian stock market: The Indian equity market is expected to open on a positive note Thursday tracking an upmove in global peers amid improved investor sentiment. Asian markets traded higher, while the US stock market indices ended largely in the green overnight after the speech from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

On Wednesday, the Indian stock market indices flat with a negative bias amid weak global cues. The Sensex fell 27.09 points, or 0.04%, to close at 73,876,82, while the Nifty 50 settled 18.65 points, or 0.08%, lower at 22,434,.65.

Asian Markets

Asian markets traded higher following overnight gains on Wall Street after Fed Chair Jerome Powell reaffirmed his view of likely rate cuts this year. Japan’s Nikkei 225 rallied 1.34% to trade near 40,000 , while Topix gained 1.05%. South Korea’s Kospi rose 1.22%. Markets in Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan are shut for a public holiday.

Gifty Nifty Today

Gifty Nifty was trading around the 22,594 level, a premium of nearly 52 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close , indicating a positive start for the Indian stock market indices.

Wall Street

The US stock market indices ended mixed on Wednesday amid gains in energy, materials and communication services stocks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 43.11 points, or 0.11% , to 39,127,.14 while the S&P 500 gained 5.68 points, or 0.11%, to 5,2111.49. The Nasdaq Composite closed 37.01 points, or 0.23% higher at 16,277.46.

Among stocks, Ulta Beauty shares plunged 15.3%, while intel shares declined 8.2%.

Jerome Powell

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that the central bank will likely reduce benchmark interest rates later this year despite recent reports showing that the US inflation picked up.

US Private Payrolls

US private payrolls increased more than expected in March. The private payrolls rose by 184,000 jobs last month, the most since last July, after advancing by an upwardly revised 155,000 in February, the ADP Employment report showed. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast private employment increasing by 148,000 last month compared to the previously reported 140,000 in February.