The Indian stock market is expected to open higher, following overnight gains across Asian markets after the US announced it attacked Venezuela and detained President Nicolas Maduro and his wife over the weekend.

Moreover, in the previous session, the Sensex and Nifty ended in positive territory on Friday, January 2, as widespread buying and growing optimism ahead of the Q3 earnings season lifted market sentiment.

Domestic Market Recap

On Friday, Indian indices closed in the green:

• Sensex higher by 573 points (0.67%) to close at 85,762.01
• Nifty 50 moved up by 182 points (0.70%) to settle at 26,328.55

Gift Nifty

Gift Nifty was trading near 26,542, around 76 points higher than the previous Nifty futures close, hinting at a positive start for Indian markets.

Overnight Wall Street Performance

In the first trading session of 2026 on Friday, the S&P 500 inched up as gains in semiconductor stocks helped stabilise the index.

• The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared by 319.10 points (0.66%) to close at 48,382.39.
• S&P 500 up by 12.97 points (0.19%), ending at 6,858.47.
• The Nasdaq Composite was lower by 6.36 points (0.02%), finishing at 23,235.63.

Gold Prices

• Spot gold was trading 1.71% higher at $4,406.4 per ounce.
• The US gold futures soared by 2.01% at $4,416.60.

Crude Oil Prices

• Brent crude slipped by 0.71% to $60.32/barrel
• US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading 0.80% lower at $56.86/barrel

Overnight Major Global Events Driving Sentiment

1. US Attacks Venezuela: Over the weekend, the United States carried out a major military operation against Venezuela. President Donald Trump announced the action on his social media platform, Truth Social, saying US forces executed a large-scale strike and took Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife into custody, removing them from the country.

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