US markets gain, tech stocks rally, S&P 500 up 0.6%; GIFT Nifty gains

Tech stocks pulled the US markets higher on April 4 along with investors eagerly awaiting job reports, to be released on Friday. At 9:00 pm IST, the S&P 500 edged 0.60 percent higher at 5,242.95 while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.77 percent at 16,403.44. Dow Jones Industrial Average also surged 0.32 percent higher at 39,252.87.

Bloomberg reported that an expected uptick in job cuts would push the Federal Reserve to introduce rate cuts sooner. “Just 24 hours ahead of key payrolls data, a reading on jobless claims topped estimates — consistent with an uptick in job cuts that would help make the case for the Federal Reserve to start lowering rates. While the figures wouldn’t necessarily set the tone for trading, they also didn’t add more noise — especially after recent signs of labor-market strength” the report stated.

The GIFT Nifty traded 0.29 percent higher at 22,713.50 owing to strong global cues.

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European markets also surged as investors built momentum. The FTSE was up 0.44 percent at 7,972.58 and the DAX traded 0.26 percent higher at 18,415.73. The CAC also traded flat-to-positive at 8,158.96.

Earlier during the day, the Asian markets traded mixed. The Nikkei ended 0.81 percent higher at 39,773.14 while the Hang Seng fell 1.22 percent to 16,725.10.

The Indian indices reached new all time highs, helped by tech, auto and consumer durables stocks. Experts also attributed the increasing FII inflow to be the pusher for this rally. The Nifty ended 0.36 percent higher at 22.514.65 and the Sensex ended 0.47 percent higher at 74,227.63. During intraday, the Nifty reached a new 52 week high of 22,619.00 and the Sensex hit 74,501.73.

DIIs net sold Rs 893.11 crore and the FIIs/FPIs continued to sell for another day, having net sold Rs 1,136.47 crore.

Crude erased its previous gains and fell 0.20 percent to 85.26. Brent was also down 0.08 percent at $89.28 per barrell.