Stock market today
: Indian equity benchmark indices, BSE Sensex and Nifty50, plunged on Friday morning, with the BSE Sensex plummeting over 850 points (0.69%) to 81,711.28 and the Nifty50 falling 230.30 points (0.92%) to 24,900.05. At 10:25 AM, BSE Sensex was trading at 81,467.62, down 734 points or 0.89%. Nifty50 was at 24,922.55, down 223 points or 0.89%.
The decline was primarily driven by banking stocks, as investors awaited the release of the US jobs report, which is expected to provide insights into the Federal Reserve’s interest rate strategy.
The weaker job openings and fewer private sector gains in the U.S. have raised concerns about a potential slowdown in the labor market, leading to expectations of a possible 50 bps rate cut during the Federal Reserve’s meeting on September 17-18.
The upcoming US non-farm payroll report for August is anticipated to offer more clarity on the labor market’s condition and influence the size of the rate cut.
Among individual stocks, KEC International and Ashoka Buildcon saw significant gains, while sector-wise, the Nifty PSU Bank index, along with Nifty Auto, Financials, Metals, Consumer Durables, and Oil & Gas sectors, opened in the red. Experts suggest that the near-term trend in the market will be influenced by the US jobs data, with potential support and resistance levels for the Nifty index.
Global markets
showed mixed performance, with MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edging 0.2% higher, while the Nikkei slipped 0.1%. China’s share markets opened mixed, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng remained flat. Oil prices were stable as investors weighed the impact of a significant withdrawal from U.S. crude inventories and a delay in production hikes by OPEC+ producers against mixed US employment data.
The Indian rupee rose on Friday, following disappointing US private payrolls data, which fueled expectations of a weaker jobs report and prompted traders to avoid the US dollar.
