Indian stock market: The domestic equity benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open lower on Monday, following mixed global market cues.

Asian markets traded mostly lower, while the US stock market ended higher last Friday, with Wall Street witnessing the biggest weekly decline in months.

This week, investors will watch out for key stock market triggers, including global trends, macroeconomic announcements, US tariff developments, flow of foreign funds, geopolitical tensions, and their impact on the US dollar and crude oil prices.

On Friday, the Indian stock market ended choppy session flat, with the Nifty 50 holding above 22,550.

The Sensex eased 7.51 points, or 0.01%, to close at 74,332.58, while the Nifty 50 settled 7.80 points, or 0.03%, higher at 22,552.50.

“Global uncertainties may weigh on sentiment and disrupt this recovery attempt. Given the mixed signals, we recommend maintaining a positive yet cautious stance, with a focus on prudent position sizing,” said Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

Here are key global market cues for Sensex today:

Asian Markets

Asian markets traded mixed on Monday. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was flat while the Topix index fell 0.1%. South Korea’s Kospi declined 0.14%, while the Kosdaq dropped 0.83%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures indicated a stronger open.

Gift Nifty Today

Gift Nifty was trading around 22,600 level, a discount of nearly 50 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a negative start for the Indian stock market indices.

Wall Street

US stock market ended higher on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the economy was “in a good place”. However, Wall Street saw the biggest weekly decline in months amid uncertainty about US trade policy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 222.64 points, or 0.52%, to 42,801.72, while the S&P 500 rose 31.68 points, or 0.55%, to 5,770.20. The Nasdaq Composite closed 126.97 points, or 0.70%, higher at 18,196.22.

For the week, the S&P 500 plunged 3.1%, the Nasdaq dropped 3.45%, and the Dow declined 2.37%. The Russell 2000 Small Cap index fell 3.86%.

Nvidia share price gained 1.92%, while Apple shares rose 1.59%. Hewlett Packard Enterprise shares slumped 12%, Costco stock price declined 6%, while Broadcom share price rallied 8.6%.

Jerome Powell Speech

US Fed Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank will not be quick to cut interest rates and echoed concerns about President Donald Trump’s policies, Reuters reported. Powell said the Fed will take a cautious approach to monetary policy easing, adding the economy currently “continues to be in a good place.”

US Nonfarm Payrolls

US job growth in February was just shy of estimates and the unemployment rate edged up to 4.1%. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 151,000 jobs last month after rising by a downwardly revised 125,000 in January. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls advancing by 160,000 jobs.

China Retaliatory Tariffs

Chinese tariffs as high as 15% on a range of US agricultural goods take effect Monday. The levies are far-reaching, touching commodities from beef and poultry to grains, Bloomberg reported. Along with the tariffs, Beijing also said it would completely suspend soybean imports from three US entities and also halted purchases of American logs.

China Inflation

China’s consumer price index fell at the sharpest pace in 13 months in February, while producer price deflation extended to a 30th straight month. The consumer price index declined 0.7% from a year earlier, compared with a 0.5% gain in the previous month.

Crude Oil Prices

Crude oil prices fell on rising output from OPEC producers and concerns of US import tariffs’ impact on global economic growth and fuel demand.

Brent crude fell 0.36% to $70.11 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.40% to $66.77 a barrel. WTI declined for a seventh successive week, the longest losing streak since November 2023, while Brent was down for a third consecutive week

Gold Price Today

Gold prices traded higher on Monday, helped by a weaker dollar and safe-haven flows. Spot gold prices rose 0.1% to $2,914.42 an ounce, while US gold futures gained 0.3% to $2,921.90.

Dollar

The US dollar dropped to multi-month lows against the euro and yen and fell versus most currencies on Friday. The dollar index, which measures the greenback’s value versus six major currencies, fell 3.5% last week. It fell 0.4% on Friday to 103.81, after earlier sliding to its lowest since early November, Reuters reported.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.