Market Commentary - Pre-Session
28-Feb-2025 08:27
Weak global cues may put pressure on stocks
GIFT Nifty:
The GIFT Nifty March 2025 futures contract is down 28 points, indicating a negative opening in the Nifty 50 index today.
SEBI Leadership Change:
Tuhin Kanta Pandey has been appointed as the 11th chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for a three-year term. The current Finance Secretary will replace Madhabi Puri Buch, who will complete her tenure as SEBI's first woman chairperson on Friday, February 28, 2025.
Institutional Flows:
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 556.56 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1,727.11 crore in the Indian equity market on 27 February 2025, provisional data showed.
According to NSDL data, FPIs have sold shares worth Rs 42868.72 crore (so far) in the secondary market during February 2025. This follows their sale of shares worth Rs 81903.72 crore in January 2024.
Global Markets:
Asian stocks fell on Friday after US President Donald Trump announced an additional 10% tax on Chinese imports, compounding the 10% tariff imposed earlier this month.
Trump also reaffirmed plans to implement a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico, set to take effect on March 4.
In Japan, factory output dipped 1.1% in January from the previous month, while retail sales climbed 3.9% year-over-year. Meanwhile, core consumer prices in Tokyo rose 2.2% in February.
Wall Street ended sharply lower on Thursday, dragged down by a selloff in chip stocks and signs of a cooling economy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.45% to 43,239.50, while the S&P 500 declined 1.59% to end at 5,861.57. The Nasdaq closed 2.78% lower at 18,544.42.
Nvidia shares plunged 8.5% to $120.15, despite strong Q4 earnings that beat expectations. Investors remain wary of shrinking profit margins and rising costs tied to its Blackwell AI chip rollout.
The US economy expanded at a 2.3% annualized rate in Q4 2024, unchanged from initial estimates but slower than Q3's 3.1% growth. For the full year, GDP grew 2.8%, slightly below 2023's 2.9%.
Meanwhile, jobless claims surged unexpectedly, with 242,000 new applications filed last week--up 22,000 from the previous period.
On a brighter note, new orders for US-manufactured capital goods jumped 0.8% in January, following a downwardly revised 0.2% rise in December.
Domestic Market:
The domestic benchmark indices witnessed volatile trading on Thursday, ultimately closing with a marginal positive bias. The volatility was largely attributed to the monthly index options expiry on the NSE today. The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 10.31 points or 0.01% to 74,612.43. The Nifty 50 index shed 2.50 points or 0.01% to 22,545.05.
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