Indian stock market: The domestic equity market indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open on a flat note on Wednesday ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy announcement and mixed global market cues.
Asian markets traded mixed, while the US stock market ended higher overnight, despite worries over the US government shutdown.
The RBI will announce its monetary policy later today. The RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra-led Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is expected to keep the repo rate unchanged and maintain the policy stance.
On Tuesday, the Indian stock market continued to reel under selling pressure and ended lower for the eighth consecutive session.
The Sensex fell 97.32 points, or 0.12%, to close at 80,267.62, while the Nifty 50 settled 23.80 points, or 0.10%, lower at 24,611.10.
“We expect the market to remain range-bound, tracking global cues, macro-economic data and RBI policy outcome where a status quo on the repo rate is widely expected,” said Siddhartha Khemka – Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:
Asian markets traded mixed on Wednesday, following overnight gains on Wall Street ahead of a potential US government shutdown. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.66%, while the Topix declined 1.52%. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.57%, and the Kosdaq rallied 0.77%. Markets on mainland China and Hong Kong were closed for a holiday.
Gift Nifty was trading around 24,773 level, a discount of nearly 5 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a muted start for the Indian stock market indices.
US stock market ended higher on Tuesday, marking quarterly and monthly gains, even as investors braced for a US government shutdown.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 81.82 points, or 0.18%, to 46,397.89, marking its latest record closing high, while the S&P 500 rose 27.25 points, or 0.41%, to 6,688.46. The Nasdaq Composite closed 68.86 points, or 0.31%, higher at 22,660.01.
For the September month, the S&P 500 gained 3.53%, Nasdaq rose 5.61%, and the Dow climbed 1.87%. For the quarter, S&P 500 gained 7.79%. Nasdaq rose 11.24%, and the Dow rallied 5.22%.
Nvidia share price jumped 2.58%, HP shares rose 1.26%, while Tesla stock price gained 0.34%. Pfizer shares rallied 6.8%, Southwest Airlines shares fell 2.6% while United Airlines declined 2.2%.
The US lurched toward a government shutdown on Tuesday as a vote to extend funding past a midnight deadline failed in the US Senate and President Donald Trump threatened to extend his purge of the federal workforce.
US job openings increased marginally in August while hiring declined. Job openings, a measure of labor demand, rose 19,000 to 7.227 million by the last day of August, the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, showed. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 7.185 million unfilled jobs. Hiring decreased 114,000 to 5.126 million in August. Layoffs dropped 62,000 to 1.725 million.
US consumer confidence declined more than expected in September amid mounting worries over the availability of jobs. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dropped by 3.6 points to 94.2 this month. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index dipping to 96.0.
India’s fiscal deficit stood at 38.1% of the full-year target at the end of August. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit, or gap between the government’s expenditure and revenue, was ₹5,98,153 crore in the April-August period of 2025-26. The Centre estimates the fiscal deficit during 2025-26 at 4.4% of the GDP, or ₹15.69 lakh crore.
Japan’s manufacturing activity shrank at the fastest pace in six months in September. The S&P Global Japan Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 48.5 in September from 49.7 in August. This marked the most pronounced deterioration since March. The index was little changed from the flash reading of 48.4.
The dollar hovered near a one-week low versus major peers as the US government headed towards a likely shutdown. The dollar index, which gauges the currency against six counterparts including the euro and yen, stood at 97.869, and fell as low as 97.633 overnight for the first time since last Wednesday, Reuters reported. The euro was flat at $1.1731, after rising to the highest since September 24 at $1.1762. The dollar edged up 0.1% to 148.15 yen, following a three-day 1.2% slide.
Gold prices fell, hovering near record levels as the US moved closer to a government shutdown, bolstering safe-haven demand. Spot gold price rose 0.2% to $3,861.22 per ounce. Bullion rallied about 12% in September, making it the metal’s sharpest monthly rise since August 2011. US gold futures for December delivery gained 0.4% to $3,888.80.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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