Market News
2 min read | Updated on March 22, 2024, 10:13 IST
SUMMARY
Indian markets witnessed a negative opening on Friday morning, primarily due to selling pressure in IT stocks. Meanwhile, US markets are positive after hitting fresh lifetime highs, as buoyancy continues after the US Federal Reserve hinted at three rate cuts in 2024.
IT stocks witness selling pressure in the morning session
Indian markets opened 0.3% lower on Friday morning, largely led by selling pressure in IT stocks. This comes after Ireland-based Accenture PLC cut its earnings guidance to 1-3% for FY24 from 2-5% projected earlier. The company reported sluggish demand in IT spending amid high interest rates in the US.
The Asian markets also gave up early gains and traded in the red, with the Hang Seng index falling nearly 3%, the most among its peers. Similarly, Japanese markets fell after hitting fresh lifetime highs and we're trading 0.4% lower. Meanwhile, the US markets continued their rally on Thursday, hitting fresh lifetime highs. The Dow Jones and Nasdaq closed 0.6% and 0.2% higher, respectively, giving up early gains.
Back home, the broader indices opened mixed, with the NIFTY Smallcap 100 index trading positive with 0.2% gains on Friday morning. Meanwhile, NIFTY midcap 100 is trading 0.1% lower, owing to selling pressure in midcap IT stocks as well.
On the sectoral indices front, NIFTY Realty (+1.1%) and NIFTY Pharma (+0.8%) are the top sectoral gainers, while NIFTY IT (-3.3%) is the top loser.
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