GIFT Nifty fell over 100 points on Friday morning, signalling subdued sentiment in global markets, although Indian equities will remain shut today on account of Muharram. The weakness came as Asian stocks retreated from record highs after renewed selling in US technology shares overshadowed optimism over artificial intelligence demand. Investors also monitored falling crude oil prices and the outlook for US interest rates.
GIFT Nifty was trading at 24,010 around 8:45 am, down 105 points or 0.44 percent from yesterday’s close.
The decline followed a volatile session for Indian markets on Thursday, when benchmark indices finished marginally higher. The Sensex rose 89 points to close at 77,080.47, while the Nifty gained 34 points to end at 24,056. Broader markets underperformed, with the Nifty Midcap index ending in the red, while the Nifty Metal index fell around 1 percent amid weakness in commodity prices.
Global sentiment cautious; AI spending worries drag Wall Street, Asian markets
Global sentiment turned cautious after Wall Street ended mixed overnight. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.14 percent, while the S&P 500 ended little changed. However, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.46 percent as fresh weakness in large technology companies offset optimism generated by strong earnings from semiconductor firms.
Apple tumbled 6.1 percent after announcing price increases for iPads and MacBooks to offset rising memory and storage chip costs, wiping out roughly $250 billion in market value. Nvidia, Microsoft and Alphabet also declined, as investors continued to question whether heavy debt-funded spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure can be sustained.
The weakness in Big Tech overshadowed upbeat quarterly results from Micron Technology, whose shares surged nearly 16 percent after forecasting stronger-than-expected revenue. Sandisk jumped 22 percent, while Qualcomm, Western Digital and Seagate also posted sharp gains, highlighting continued strength in AI-linked semiconductor demand.
Asian markets mirrored the cautious mood. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 1.7 percent after touching a record high earlier this week. Japan's Nikkei dropped around 3 percent, South Korea's Kospi declined 3.5 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng and China's CSI300 also traded lower. Nasdaq futures slipped around 0.6 percent in Asian trade, indicating that pressure on technology stocks could persist.
Crude oil prices continue to ease
Oil prices eased again on Friday and were headed for steep weekly losses as supply concerns continued to fade following the resumption of tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude slipped 0.25 percent to around $75 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate traded below $72. Both benchmarks remain on track for weekly declines of about 7 percent despite a brief rebound after a cargo vessel was struck near Oman on Thursday.
The decline in crude prices has effectively erased the geopolitical risk premium that had built up during the Iran conflict, and remains supportive for oil-importing economies such as India by easing inflationary pressures and reducing import costs.
Institutional flows remained mixed in the previous session. Foreign institutional investors sold Indian equities worth Rs 384 crore on June 25, extending their cautious stance, while domestic institutional investors continued to provide support with net purchases of Rs 5,748 crore. So far this year, FIIs have remained net sellers of nearly Rs 3.46 lakh crore, while DIIs have bought shares worth Rs 4.57 lakh crore.