Stock Market Today: Top 10 things to know before the market opens

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The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices are likely to open on a positive note on March 2 as trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a strong start for the broader index with a gain of 60 points.

In a stellar session on March 1, the Indian benchmarks hit record highs, with the Nifty closing above 22,300 level.

At close, the Sensex was up 1,245.05 points, or 1.72 percent, at 73,745.35, and the Nifty was up 356.00 points, or 1.62 percent, at 22,338.80. Their best closing, so far.

The pivot point calculator indicates that the Nifty is likely to take immediate support at 21,900, followed by 21,860, while on the higher side, it may see resistance at 22,600, followed by 22,800 and 23,000 levels.

Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in the currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines across news platforms, which could impact Indian as well as international markets.

GIFT Nifty

Trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a positive start for the broader index in India, with a gain of 60 points or 0.27 percent. The Nifty futures were trading around the 22,511 level.

Trade setup for today: Top 15 things to know before the opening bell

Nasdaq hits fresh all-time high, S&P 500 closes above 5,100 for the first time

The Nasdaq Composite reached a new high on Friday, surpassing its 2021 record. Investors believed that mega-cap technology stocks were the best way to play the slowing inflation and the upcoming boom in artificial intelligence.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose by 1.14% to 16,274.94, hitting a new high of 16,302.24 during the session. The index closed at its first record since November 2021 the day before. The S&P 500 also gained 0.80% to 5,137.08 for its first close above the 5,100 threshold. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 90.99 points, or 0.23%, to 39,087.38.

Nvidia, the chipmaking giant that has led the tech rally by surging more than 260% over the last 12 months, gained another 4% on Friday. Meta also jumped more than 2% for the day.

Nvidia closes with $2 trillion valuation as Dell stokes AI rally

Nvidia's stock market value closed above $2 trillion for the first time on Friday after an upbeat report from Dell Technologies reignited Wall Street's AI-fueled rally.

Nvidia's stock added 4% after Dell, which sells high-end servers made with Nvidia's processors, gave an upbeat forecast late on Thursday, pointing to a surge in orders for its AI-optimized servers.

Dell's shares soared as much as 38% to a record high before ending the session with a 32% gain.

Friday's rally put Nvidia's market capitalization at $2.06 trillion, making it Wall Street's third most valuable company behind Microsoft and Apple, at $3.09 trillion and $2.77 trillion, respectively.

Nikkei hits new record high, China closes higher

Asia indices ended the week on a positive note with Japan's Nikkei 225 leading gains by closing 1.9% higher at 39,910.82, just shy of the 40,000 level. The broader Topix index also rose 1.3% to end at 2,709.42, up by 1.8% for the week.

In China, official data showed the manufacturing PMI for February was at 49.1, according to a Reuters poll forecast. Meanwhile, the private Caixin manufacturing final PMI for the same period came in at 50.9, slightly higher than January's 50.8. A PMI reading above 50 indicates an expansion, while below 50 denotes a contraction.

China markets rose, with CSI 300 closing 0.6% higher at 3,537.8, and the index was up 1.4% for the week. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was also up by 0.4%, but it is still set for a weekly decline of 0.9%.

US bond yields fall

U.S. Treasuries yields fell sharply including two-year yields' biggest daily decline since the end of January after the manufacturing data and Waller's suggestion of the need for more shorter-dated Treasuries.

The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, fell 11.1 basis points to 4.5354%, from 4.646% late on Thursday.

The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 6.6 basis points to 4.186%, from 4.252% while the 30-year bond yield fell 4.7 basis points to 4.3285% from 4.375% late on Thursday.

Dollar

The dollar fell against the euro on weaker-than-expected U.S. economic data but gained against the Japanese yen after Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda said it was too soon to declare victory on inflation.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, fell 0.2% at 103.91, with the euro up 0.28% at $1.0833.

Gold

Gold started the month on a positive note, with prices rising to a two-month high the muted economic data.

Spot gold added 1.97% to $2,083.41 an ounce.

Crude Oil

Oil prices settled higher and posted weekly gains as traders awaited an OPEC+ decision on supply agreements for the second quarter while they weighed U.S., European and Chinese economic data.

Cryptocurrencies

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin rose 2.36% to $62,898.00 after hitting a more than two-year high of $63,933 on Wednesday.

FII and DII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 128.94 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 3,814.53 crore worth of stocks on March 1, provisional data from the NSE showed.

With inputs from Reuters and other agencies