Stock market today: Key things to know before the opening bell on January 20

The GIFT NIFTY traded 50 points higher on Monday morning, indicating a positive start for Indian markets.

US markets

The US benchmark indices closed upbeat on Friday, with the Dow Jones and S&P500 gaining 0.7% and 1%, respectively. The NASDAQ’s nearly 2% rally on Friday was fuelled by gains in Tesla (+3.1%), NVIDIA (+3%), and Amazon (+2.4%). The US market futures opened higher on Monday morning as optimism gripped the US and global markets on softer inflation data, the increased probability of more rate cuts, and strong earnings growth across companies. Additionally, markets look forward to Trump’s second term starting Monday, January 20, 2025.

Asian markets

Asian markets traded upbeat across the board, as Japan’s Nikkei index rose over 540 points, taking cues from positive US markets. On the other hand, Chinese markets also traded in the positive after the December quarterly GDP data raised hopes for growth and momentum in the Chinese economy. However, the tariff war after Trump’s reinstatement remains a key headwind for the economy.

Oil prices

Crude oil prices traded steadily on Monday morning ahead of Trump’s inauguration ceremony and his first announcements afterwards. Brent crude oil prices retreated from last week's recent high of $82.5 per barrel to $80 per barrel on Monday morning.

FII and DII data

FIIs remained firm on their selling stance last week and sold nearly ₹25,000 crore worth of Indian equities. The rising dollar index and jump in US treasury yields put pressure on foreign investors to reduce their risk exposure in India. In the derivatives market, the FII short position aggravated further to 3.26 lakh contracts, indicating their pessimistic outlook for Indian markets.

Chart check

Market participants will eye for key supports levels of 23,060 on the NIFTY50 and 76275 on the SENSEX as they become crucial support for the markets. However, any pullback from these levels is expected to take the indices towards their 200 DEMA levels of 23,670 on NIFTY and 78,900 on SENSEX in the near term.