India’s benchmark stock indices opened higher after hitting a fresh record high in pre-open session on Wednesday. The headline indices advanced the most in over a week on Tuesday as July 1, 2023 was announced as the effective date for the merger of the HDFC twins.
Asian markets were mixed after a rally on the Wall Street that was fueled by strength in U.S. consumer confidence and home sales. The yen strengthened and the Australian dollar slumped on soft inflation data.
The Aussie fell as much as 1% and the nation’s stock market jumped 1.4% after inflation eased more than expected in May, improving the prospects for the central bank to pause in its rate-hike campaign.
Stocks also advanced in Japan, but fell in Hong Kong and mainland China. U.S. stock futures declined following a late-breaking Wall Street Journal report that the Biden administration was considering new curbs on exports of artificial intelligence chips to China.
Nasdaq 100 jumped almost 2% and the S&P 500 halted a two-day drop, on Tuesday. Tech megacaps led the rebound in U.S. equities. Tesla Inc. rallied after a 6% plunge, Snowflake Inc. jumped on an artificial intelligence-related partnership with Nvidia Corp.
At pre-open, the S&P BSE Sensex Index was up 286 points or 0.45% at 63,701.78 while the NSE Nifty 50 Index was 91 points or 0.48% higher at 18,908.15.