Pre-Open Points To Higher Open As Markets Look To Extend Rebound

Mumbai, October 30: Indian shares rose at pre open pointing to a higher start after yesterday’s rebound aided by earnings. 

Nifty 50 rose 0.3% and Sensex advanced 0.18% at pre open.  

Investors will also assess a fresh batch of quarterly earnings from heavyweight companies, with Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma and Bharat Electronics scheduled to announce their results later in the day.  

Coal India, a state-run miner, missed second-quarter profit expectations as higher costs offset the benefit of robust demand.  

Godrej Consumer Products’s quarterly profit came in marginally below estimates, with elevated commodity-linked input costs weighing.  

InterGlobe Aviation, operator of airline IndiGo, narrowed its second-quarter loss through pricing measures to counter rising fuel expenses, but warned that higher airfares were unavoidable.  

Retail company Trent’s second-quarter profit jumped 23% year-on-year, supported by strong apparel sales and continued expansion of its store network. 

Asian Markets Today 

Asian equities came under intense selling pressure, with technology and semiconductor stocks leading the declines as investors questioned whether the enormous capital expenditure by technology giants would translate into commensurate returns. 

South Korea’s Kospi plunged 5%, taking its October losses beyond 17%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined 2.5%. China’s blue-chip CSI 300 fell 0.9% and was also heading towards its steepest monthly decline in a decade, amid concerns over weakening demand for artificial intelligence-related chips and data-centre equipment. 

The selloff followed a sharp decline in US technology stocks, with Alphabet plunging 12.6% after its quarterly results reignited concerns over rising AI expenditure. Intel shares slumped 23% in after-hours trading, while Amazon dropped 7%, dragging Nasdaq 100 futures down 2.2%. 

Wall Street Ends Lower 

US markets ended lower on Thursday as investors reassessed the prospects of returns from Big Tech’s aggressive AI investments. The Nasdaq Composite led the losses, declining 1.37% to 26,184.72. The S&P 500 slipped 0.30% to 7,720.39, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.25% to settle at 52,342.56. 

The weakness followed Alphabet’s revenue miss, which renewed concerns about the scale of capital expenditure required to sustain the AI boom. Investors were also digesting the Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday to leave interest rates unchanged. 

The small-cap Russell 2000, however, bucked the broader trend, gaining 1%, suggesting that selling pressure remained concentrated in technology-heavy segments of the market. 

Crude Oil Prices 

Oil prices extended their rally on Friday amid fears of supply disruptions following fresh attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group on Saudi Arabian energy infrastructure. 

Brent crude futures rose 1.4% to $116.5 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) gained 1.4% to $103.4. Both benchmarks were on course for a fourth consecutive monthly advance, with Brent heading towards a nearly 14% gain in October. 

The Houthis reported attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura and Rabigh refineries and an Aramco facility in Abqaiq, heightening concerns over regional energy supplies and the security of shipping routes around the Strait of Hormuz. Uncertainty surrounding the prospects of renewed US-Iran negotiations has further bolstered crude prices. 

Source

• Exchanges