At the domestic stock markets, key indices ended little changed, today, while the Rupee strengthened slightly against the US Dollar. In the international markets, Brent crude oil futures traded below USD 68 a barrel. 

After a solid opening in the morning, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange ended with a marginal gain of 42 points, to close at 48,733, today. But the Nifty at the National Stock Exchange shed 19 points, to 14,678.
 
In global equity markets, Asia Pacific ended mostly higher. So Japan's Nikkei-225 index climbed 2.3 per cent; China's Shanghai Composite index advanced 1.8 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 1.1 per cent and South Korea's Kospi index rose 1 percent. But Singapore's Straits Times index declined 2.2 per cent, after the city-state's imposition of the strictest COVID-19 curbs since last year stoked worries of a potential unravelling of its nascent recovery.
 
In Europe, London's FTSE-100 had 0.7 per cent; France's CAC-40 had advanced 1 per cent and Germany's DAX had gained 0.6 per cent, in intra-day trade.
 
In the international market, Global crude oil prices rose today, as stock markets strengthened, though gains were capped by the Coronavirus situation in major oil consumer India and the restart of a fuel pipeline in the United States. So Brent crude oil futures for May rose 88 cents, to trade at USD 67.93 per barrel. US crude futures for May climbed 79 cents, to USD 64.61 a barrel.
 
On the Multi Commodity Exchange, gold contracts for June delivery traded higher by Rs 104, to Rs 47,542 per ten grams.
 
Gold prices traded 0.50 per cent higher, at USD 1,833 per ounce in New York.
 
At the forex market, the rupee gained 13 paise, to Rs 73.29, against the US Dollar.