*Morning comments (HDFCSec Retail Research)*
*Indian markets could open flat to mildly higher, in line with mostly positive Asian markets today and mixed US markets on June 26*
US indexes ended marginally higher on Wednesday, lifted by Amazon.com Inc after it announced a major foray into generative AI. The firm also crossed the $2 trillion valuation mark. Big tech got hit in late US trading after Micron Technology Inc.’s outlook failed to meet the lofty expectations for the industry that has powered the bull market in stocks. Micron slumped in late hours, dragging down some chipmakers including giant Nvidia Corp.
China's industrial profits rose at a much slower pace in May, official data showed on Thursday, underlining the struggles faced by the world's second-largest economy as weak domestic demand crimps overall growth. Earnings rose 0.7% year-on-year last month after a 4% increase in April while gains over the first five months also eased to 3.4% from 4.3% in the January-April period
The Japanese yen hit a near-38 year low against the U.S. dollar late Wednesday, raising expectations that authorities could intervene in currency markets again. The yen weakened to 160.82 against the greenback according to FactSet data, breaching the previous record of 160.03 on April 29 and reaching its weakest level since 1986.
US home sales slumped in May while the median sales price nudged lower, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Sales of new single-family homes totaled 619,000 for the month, down 11.3% from the upwardly revised figure for April, which was revised all the way up to 698,000 from the initial estimate of 634,000.
The most anticipated economic data due this week is the US personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index - the Fed's preferred inflation gauge - on Friday.
Shares in Asia recovered early losses on Thursday morning after US tech companies dropped in late US trading.
Nifty rose for the third consecutive session to close at yet another new all time high. At close, Nifty was up 0.62% or 147.5 points at 23868.80. Trend of the Nifty remains positive. The level of 23660 has become new support for the Nifty. On the higher side, next resistance is seen at 24125, which happens to be 138.2% Fibonacci retracement of the entire fall seen from 23338 (3rd June Top) to 22281 (4th Jun Bottom).
*DJ (HDFCSec Retail Research)*