Welcome to Today’s Stock Market Update

Today in the stock market, Indian equity benchmark indices, BSE Sensex and Nifty50, started in the red after three days of record highs. The BSE Sensex dropped around 150 points, while the Nifty50 hovered around 23,800. As of 9:19 AM, the BSE Sensex was trading at 78,565.93, down 108 points or 0.14%, and the Nifty50 was at 23,833.60, down 35 points or 0.15%.

The equity markets have been on an upward trend as the Nifty reached new highs for the second consecutive day, inching closer to the 24,000 mark. Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal, expressed optimism about the market movement due to factors such as the Union Budget, increasing FII inflows, and strong domestic economic data.

Nagaraj Shetti from HDFC Securities pointed out that the current upward momentum may face resistance around the 24,000-24,100 levels, leading to a potential period of consolidation or minor weakness. The immediate support level is identified at 23,650.

In the US, major stock indexes closed with modest gains on Wednesday amidst cautious trading ahead of a presidential debate and a key inflation report by the Federal Reserve. The Dow rose by 0.04%, the S&P increased by 0.16%, and the Nasdaq went up by 0.49%.

Meanwhile, oil prices dipped in early Asian trade today due to unexpected growth in U.S. stockpiles, raising concerns about sluggish demand from the top oil consumer. However, fears of a potential escalation of the Gaza conflict disrupting Middle East supplies limited the decline. The yen remained near a 38-year low, struggling around 160 per dollar, prompting market vigilance for potential intervention from Japanese authorities to bolster the currency.

Stay tuned for more updates on the stock market trends and analysis. Happy trading!