Indian Markets Closed For Diwali

(RTTNews) - Indian markets remain closed today on account of Diwali. However, there will be a special one-hour Muhurat trading session between 6.00 pm and 7.00 pm.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fell 0.7 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively on Thursday to extend losses for a second day running, while the rupee ended largely unchanged at 84.07 against the dollar amid persistent foreign fund outflows and month-end dollar demand from importers.

Asian stocks were broadly lower this morning as the latest core PCE inflation data suggested that the Fed is still on a bumpy course in this last mile to quell inflation and declare victory.

Mixed earnings from top U.S. technology companies also dented sentiment. Apple reported weaker-than-anticipated sales in China. while Amazon and Intel issued strong guidance.

Chinese markets were little changed, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was moving higher after a private survey showed China's factory activity returned to expansion in October.

Also, China's residential property sales rose in October, marking the first on-year increase of 2024.

Japan's Nikkei was down more than 2 percent after the yen jumped nearly 1 percent against the dollar on Thursday.

The dollar steadied against major peers ahead of the all-important U.S. jobs data due later in the day and next week's presidential election.

Gold was marginally higher after falling from a record high the previous day. Oil prices were up almost 2 percent in Asian trading following reports that Iran is preparing to attack Israel from Iraqi territory in the coming days.

U.S. stocks tumbled overnight as Meta Platforms and Microsoft warned of rising costs for artificial intelligence.

In economic news, consumer spending beat expectations in September and unemployment claims dropped to a five-month low while labor costs posted their smallest increase in more than three years in the third quarter amid cooling wage growth, separate set of data showed.

PCE index, the Fed's preferred inflation measure, revealed a slight decline in the headline inflation rate to 2.1 percent year-over-year in September while core PCE inflation held steady at 2.7 percent versus 2.6 percent expected, adding to recent concerns the Fed will lower rates more slowly than hoped.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plummeted 2.8 percent, the S&P 500 plunged 1.9 percent and the Dow dropped 0.9 percent.

European stocks fell notably on Thursday as data revealed a bigger than expected increase in euro zone inflation.

The pan European STOXX 600 declined 1.2 percent. The German DAX dipped 0.9 percent, France's CAC 40 lost 1.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gave up 0.6 percent.