Stock, commodity and forex markets closed today on account of Holi

Stock, commodity and forex markets closed today on account of Holi

Indian equity, forex, money and commodity markets will remain closed on Friday on account of Holi.

The Sensex edged down on Thursday, as subdued global market sentiment offset better-than-expected growth data at home, with bank stocks such as ICICI Bank and State Bank of India among the big losers.

On Thursday, the S&P BSE Sensex ended at 34,047, up 137 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,458, up 34 points.

For the week, the BSE Sensex was up 227 points, or 0.7 per cent at while the NSE Nifty gained 75.80 points, or 0.7% per cent. The S&P BSE Mid-cap index fell 0.6 per cent by close, while the S&P BSE Small-cap index moved down 0.2%.

Bank stocks were among the biggest laggards, with ICICI Bank and State Bank of India falling 2.6 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively.

Asian stocks were mostly lower on Thursday after Wall Street marked its worst monthly performance in two years as hawkish-sounding comments from new Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reverberated across the broader risk asset markets.

In economic data, India’s economy grew 7.2 per cent in the December quarter, the fastest in five quarters, as it regained status as the fastest growing major economy ahead of China.

Stock markets in Asia extended a selloff on Wall Street as investors were rattled after President Donald Trump announced the United States would impose hefty tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, raising the spectre of a global trade war.

Early on Friday, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.2 per cent while Japan's Nikkei tumbled 2.4 per cent.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 lost 36.16 points, or 1.33 per cent, to 2,677.67 on Thursday, coming a day after the investors sold off heavily on worries the Federal Reserve might increase rates more than expected this year.