Indian Markets Closed For Mahashivratri

Indian markets remain closed today on account of Mahashivratri.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended a choppy session on a flat note Thursday while the rupee ended marginally higher at 82.78 against the dollar, notching its fourth straight weekly gain.

Asian markets followed Wall Street higher this morning after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said rate cuts “can and will” begin this year.

The dollar index was little changed while oil and gold were seeing marginal losses ahead of the U.S. jobs report due later in the day.

U.S. stocks rose overnight to extend gains from the previous session while the ten-year yield fell to its lowest closing level in a month after Powell told a U.S. Senate committee that the U.S. central bank is “not far” from gaining the confidence it needs in falling inflation to begin cutting interest rates.

In economic releases, weekly jobless claims came in unchanged, the U.S. trade deficit widened more than expected in January and labor costs edged up less than expected in Q4 while worker productivity grew solidly in the fourth quarter.

The S&P 500 rallied 1 percent to reach a record closing high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.5 percent and the Dow inched up 0.3 percent.

European stocks closed on a firm note Thursday as the European Central Bank lowered its annual inflation forecast and signaled it won’t begin cutting rates before June.

The pan European STOXX 600 climbed 1 percent. The German DAX climbed 0.7 percent, France’s CAC 40 added 0.8 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.2 percent.

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