Indian Stock Market Opens Lower as Crude Oil Prices Rise

The GIFT Nifty is lower in early trade today, October 14, indicating a weak start to the day for Indian equities. GIFT Nifty was 87 points lower, or 0.37%, at 22,766 points. Crude oil prices remained higher, trading around $107 per barrel and US bond yields remained near multi-year highs at 5.23%. Asian markets opened mixed today. Investors will keep an eye on the quarterly earnings of Tech Mahindra , another information technology major, which is due later in the day. Indian benchmark indices had rallied on Tuesday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s comments on being open to deliberations on long-term capital gains tax and securities transaction tax boosted sentiment. Firm earnings by two IT majors, TCS and HCL Technologies , had also lifted market sentiment. The Sensex had surged 1,109.10 points, or 1.54%, to close at 73,033.78. The Nifty 50 also rallied 358.60 points, or 1.6%, to settle at 22,721.95. The US Dollar Index (DXY) , which measures the value of the dollar against a basket of six foreign currencies, was trading at 102.14. The index evaluates the strength or weakness of the US dollar with major currencies. The basket contains currencies such as the British Pound, Euro, Swedish Krona, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc, and others. On October 13, the Indian rupee ended at 95.28 against the US dollar. US stock futures were little changed on Wednesday morning. The S&P 500 futures and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat, while the Nasdaq-100 futures were 0.15% lower. The US Yield remained at multi-year highs with the 10-year yield at 5.22%. US stocks ended lower on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 180.45 points, or 0.35% to end at 51,670.1 points. The S&P 500 closed just below the flatline at 7,805.45 points. The Nasdaq Composite lost 0.15% to end at 27,204.38 points. Crude oil prices were higher than their previous close in early trading on Wednesday, with Brent crude oil hovering around $107 per barrel. The West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were 0.9% higher at nearly $95 per barrel. Crude oil prices remained significantly higher than their pre-West Asia war levels. Asian markets opened mixed on Wednesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 gaining 0.32% while the Topix fell 0.11%. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.82% at open while the small-cap Kosdaq declined 0.45%. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was 0.62% lower.