10 key things that changed for market overnight - Gift Nifty, US markets sell-off to gold prices

By Admin

21 Nov, 2025

The Indian stock market is set for a soft start on Friday as global cues turned sharply negative overnight. Gift Nifty trends and weakness across Asian and US markets indicate selling pressure after Indian indices hit fresh 52-week highs in the previous session. Here are the 10 key developments that shaped the market mood overnight.

Indian Market Setup
Gift Nifty was trading around 26,154 level, nearly 66 points below the previous close of Nifty futures, signalling a negative opening for Sensex and Nifty 50. This follows Thursday’s strong close where the Sensex jumped 446.21 points to 85,632.68 and the Nifty 50 gained 139.50 points to end at 26,192.15. According to Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, domestic cues, global macro data, FII flows, and a potential India–US trade agreement could support market momentum ahead.

Asian Markets Decline
Asian markets slipped in early trade, mirroring overnight weakness on Wall Street. Japan’s Nikkei 225 crashed 2.25%, while the Topix index fell 0.72%. South Korea was hit harder, with the Kospi tanking 3.4% and the Kosdaq sliding 3.01%. Futures indicate a lower opening for the Hong Kong Hang Seng index as well.

Gift Nifty Signals Weak Start
Gift Nifty’s trade around 26,154 level 66 points below Nifty futures strongly pointed to a negative start for Indian benchmark indices.

Wall Street Sell-off
US markets reversed early gains and closed sharply lower as technology stocks witnessed heavy selling despite Nvidia’s strong earnings. The Dow Jones fell 386.51 points (0.84%) to 45,752.26, the S&P 500 dropped 103.40 points (1.56%) to 6,538.76, and the Nasdaq plunged 486.18 points (2.15%) to 22,078.05.

Tech Stocks Drag US Markets
Major tech counters saw sharp declines: Nvidia dropped 3.15%, AMD plunged 7.84%, Amazon slid 2.49%, Microsoft fell 1.6%, Intel declined 4.42%, Palantir sank 5.85%, and Tesla slipped 2.21%.

US Job Data Mixed
US nonfarm payrolls rose by 119,000 in September, recovering from a revised 4,000 drop in August. This exceeded economists’ expectations of 50,000 job additions. However, the labour market remains fragile.

US Unemployment at 4-Year High
The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% in September, up from 4.3% in August its highest in four years. Despite this, mid-November layoffs stayed low, signalling a labour market in a holding pattern.

Japan Manufacturing PMI Contracts
Japan’s manufacturing sector contracted for a fifth straight month. The S&P Global Flash Manufacturing PMI rose slightly to 48.8 in November from 48.2 in October still below the 50-mark threshold for expansion.

India Core Sector Weakens
India’s core sector output showed zero growth in October, marking its weakest performance in 14 months. This follows a slowdown in recent months 3.3% growth in September and 6.5% in August. In September 2024, the sector had expanded 2.4%.

Dollar Strengthens
The US dollar headed for its best week in over a month as the dollar index hovered near a 5.5-month high at 100.20. The euro traded near a two-week low at $1.1528, sterling edged up to $1.3084, while the yen weakened to 157.33 per dollar its lowest level in nearly 10 months.

Gold Prices Steady
Gold remained stable after mixed US jobs data provided no clear trigger for the Federal Reserve’s rate-cut decision. Gold edged up 0.1% to $4,082.90 an ounce.

Crude Oil Softens
Crude oil prices dipped after news that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed to work on a peace plan. Brent crude slipped 0.66% to $62.97 a barrel, while WTI fell 0.69% to $58.59.