Indian stock market: 10 key things that changed for market overnight- Gift Nifty, Delhi exit polls to US-China trade war

Indian stock market: The domestic equity market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open higher on Thursday, following gains in global markets.

Asian markets gained, while the US stock market ended higher overnight, amid lackluster tech earnings and uneven economic data.

On Wednesday, the Indian stock market ended in the red, weighed down by weakness in index heavyweight stocks and escalating US-China trade war.

The Sensex declined 312.53 points, or 0.40%, to close at 78,271.28, while the Nifty 50 settled 42.95 points, or 0.18%, lower at 23,696.30.

“We expect markets to remain range-bound with stock/sector specific action on the back Q3 earnings announcements as today will be a result-heavy day with several large-caps including Bharti Airtel, SBI, ITC, Trent, Britannia Industries, BSE, Hero MotoCorp, amongst others announcing numbers,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:

Asian Markets

Asian markets traded higher on Thursday tracking overnight gains on Wall Street.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.39%, while the Topix rose 0.33%. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.45% while the Kosdaq advanced 0.8%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a higher opening.

Gift Nifty Today

Gift Nifty was trading around 23,807 level, a premium of nearly 35 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a positive start for the Indian stock market indices.

Wall Street

US stock market indices ended higher on Wednesday, rebounding from declines earlier in the session.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 317.24 points, or 0.71%, to 44,873.28, while the S&P 500 rose 23.60 points, or 0.39%, to 6,061.48. The Nasdaq Composite closed 38.32 points, or 0.19%, higher at 19,692.33.

Alphabet share price plunged 7.3%, Apple shares eased 0.1%, while Nvidia stock price rallied 5.4% and Broadcom stock rose 4.3%. Advanced Micro Devices shares dropped 6.3%, Uber Technologies share price declined 7.6% and FMC Corp cracked 33.5%. Johnson Controls share price jumped 11.3%, while Fiserv surged 7.1%.

US Trade Deficit

The US trade deficit widened sharply in December as imports surged to a record high against the backdrop of tariff threats. The trade gap increased 24.7% to $98.4 billion, the highest since March 2022, from a revised $78.9 billion in November. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade deficit soaring to $96.6 billion from the previously reported $78.2 billion in November.

US PMI

US services sector activity unexpectedly slowed in January amid cooling demand, helping to curb price growth. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its non-manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) slipped to 52.8 last month from 54.0 in December. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the services PMI edging up to 54.3.

Delhi Elections Exit Polls

Most of the exit polls gave a clear edge to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Delhi Elections 2025. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is predicted to be ousted from power in the national capital. The Delhi assembly has 70 seats, and 36 are required for majority. The final and official results will be declared by the Election Commission on February 8, Saturday.

US-China Trade War

China filed a World Trade Organization complaint against US President Donald Trump’s new 10% tariff on Chinese imports and his cancellation of a duty-free exemption for low-value packages, arguing the actions are ‘protectionist’ and break WTO rules, Reuters reported.

Dollar

The US dollar fell to its lowest in more than a week, while the Japanese yen rallied on the back of strong wage data. The dollar index, which tracks the currency against six peers, was down 0.435% at 107.58, having earlier touched its lowest since January 27 at 107.29.

Oil Prices

Crude oil prices fell more than 2% Wednesday on a large build in US crude and gasoline stockpiles.

Brent crude futures closed 2.09% lower at $74.61 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) traded 0.31% higher at $71.25, after falling 2.3% overnight.

Gold Prices Today

Gold prices traded higher on Thursday to hover near an all-time high hit in the last session. Spot gold rose 0.1% at $2,867.79 per ounce, after hitting a record high of $2,882.16 in the previous session. US gold futures fell 0.2% to $2,887.10.

(With inputs from Reuters)

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