US stocks closed firmly lower on Tuesday after Iran fired over 100 ballistic missiles at Israel, pushing oil prices for West Texas Intermediate and Brent to their biggest increases in nearly a year. The S&P 500 ended little changed on Wednesday, with technology shares gaining but investors nervous about Middle East tensions and more U.S. labor data due this week. Job openings in the US surprisingly increased in August, furthering the narrative that while the labor market is cooling, it's not rapidly slowing. New data showed there were 8.04 million jobs open at the end of August, an increase from the 7.71 million seen in July. A strike by dockworkers began on the East and Gulf coasts, threatening to halt the flow of half the US's ocean shipping. Disruption from the large-scale stoppage could cost the economy billions of dollars a day, stoke inflation, put jobs at risk, and reverberate through US politics. Global hedge funds flocked to Chinese equities on the back of Beijing's much bigger than expected stimulus measures, leading to the strongest weekly buying on record, On Wednesday, Japan’s new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, told reporters economic conditions don’t currently support another rate hike. Coal India production drops 1% in September to 50.9 MT Jubilant Ingrevia’s subsidiary signs a deal with agrochemical firm to produce agro intermediate Zydus Lifesciences received tentative approval from US FDA for Enzalutamide Tablets Japan stocks led most Asian markets higher Thursday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index slipped as the China stimulus rally appeared to ease. Nifty extended its fall to a third session on Oct 01. At close, Nifty was down 0.05% or 13.9 points at 25796.6. Nifty could face resistance from the 25956-26011 band while 25446 could offer support in the near term. Indian markets could open sharply lower, in line with muted global cues.