Live Market Updates 6 July

The GIFT Nifty indicated a flat start for the broader index on Thursday, with a slight loss of 13.50 points. The futures stood at 19,498.50, pointing to a relatively stable opening.

On Wednesday, Wall Street's main indexes experienced modest declines as investors processed the minutes from the US Federal Reserve's latest meeting. The minutes revealed that the Fed agreed to maintain interest rates at the June meeting in order to evaluate the need for future rate hikes. Despite this pause, investors still anticipated a rate increase at the next meeting later in the month. Economic data, including the monthly US jobs report, is expected to be released before the meeting.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 129.83 points, or 0.38%, closing at 34,288.64. The S&P 500 lost 8.77 points, or 0.20%, ending at 4,446.82. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 25.12 points, or 0.18%, settling at 13,791.65.

In Asian markets, the Asia-Pacific region experienced lower market performance as the US Federal Reserve minutes revealed a split decision on rate hikes in June. The central bank sees more hikes ahead at a slower pace and aims to assess the impacts of the aggressive moves made thus far. Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1%, while South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.8% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slid 0.72%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was also set to fall, with futures indicating a decline compared to the previous close.

The Fed minutes highlighted divisions among officials regarding the decision to pause interest-rate increases in June. While most officials agreed to keep rates unchanged, some would have supported a quarter-point increase. This divergence of opinions indicates that there was reluctance among certain officials for a one-month pause. However, the minutes also indicated that a large majority of policymakers agreed that further tightening would likely be necessary this year.

In the energy market, US crude oil experienced a 3% gain, narrowing the price gap with global benchmark Brent. This response followed supply cuts announced by Saudi Arabia and Russia. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose to $71.79 a barrel, while Brent crude futures settled at $76.65 a barrel.

Gold prices fell due to an increase in the dollar and US Treasury yields after the Federal Reserve's June policy meeting. The minutes solidified expectations that interest rates will stay higher for a longer period. Spot gold was down 0.5% at $1,916.49 per ounce, and US gold futures settled 0.1% lower at $1,927.10.

In terms of investor activity, foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 1,603.15 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DII) sold shares worth Rs 439.01 crore on July 5, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

On the National Stock Exchange, Indiabulls Housing Finance has been removed from the F&O ban list for July 6. No fresh stocks have been added to the list, which includes companies where derivative contracts have exceeded 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.