Indian stock market: 7 things that changed for market overnight - Gift Nifty, Russia-Ukraine peace talks to gold rates

The Indian stock market benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty 50, are expected to open marginally higher on Friday, following mixed global market cues. Asian markets traded mostly lower, while the US stock market futures traded flat during a holiday shortened week. On Thursday, the Indian stock market indices ended flat with a positive bias after hitting their record in intraday trade. The Sensex gained 110.87 points, or 0.13%, to close at 85,720.38, while the Nifty 50 settled 10.25 points, or 0.04%, higher at 26,215.55. “We expect the positive momentum to continue, with the Nifty 50 gradually advancing toward the 26,500 mark. Traders should maintain a ‘buy-on-dips’ approach, focusing on sectoral rotation and strong stock-specific setups,” said Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd. Here are key global market cues for Sensex today: Asian Markets Asian markets traded mixed on Friday as US stock futures remained flat. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 0.25%, while the Topix was flat. South Korea’s Kospi plunged 0.95%, and the Kosdaq rallied 1.66%. Hong Kong Hang Seng index futures indicated a lower opening. Gift Nifty Today Gift Nifty was trading around 26,420 level, a premium of nearly 29 points from the Nifty futures’ previous close, indicating a mildly positive start for the Indian stock market indices. Wall Street US stock market was closed on Thursday on account of the Thanksgiving Day holiday. The market will close early at 1 pm ET on Friday. However, stock futures traded flat during a holiday shortened week. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 10 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq-100 futures were marginally higher. Russia-Ukraine Peace Deal Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the outlines of a draft peace plan discussed by the United States and Ukraine could become the basis of future deals to end the war in Ukraine, but that if not Russia would fight on. Tokyo Inflation Consumer inflation in Japan’s capital stayed well above the central bank’s 2% target in November. The Tokyo core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food costs, rose 2.8% in November from a year earlier, steady from October and roughly matching a median market forecast for a 2.7% gain. Gold Prices Gold prices were steady and on track for a fourth monthly gain on rising US Fed rate cut bets. Gold price rose 0.3% to $4,171.18 an ounce, and up more than 2% for the week. Crude Oil Prices Crude oil prices headed for the longest run of monthly losses in more than two years. Brent crude oil price rose 0.06% to $63.38 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 0.63% to $59.02. (With inputs from Reuters)