Indian Shares Seen Flat To Lower As Fed Worries Persist

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening a tad lower on Thursday as TCS posted disappointing earnings for the fourth quarter and oil prices continue to climb, raising worries over central banks keeping rates higher for longer.

IT bellwether company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) posted healthy growth in Q4 of FY23, but broadly missed the street's expectations for the quarter.

Crude oil prices rose 2 percent on Wednesday to their highest in more than a month amid signs of cooling U.S. inflation.

There is some good news on the data front, as India's factory output growth improved in February and retail inflation returned within RBI's tolerance band of 2-6 percent for the first time since December.

India's industrial production expanded 5.6 percent year-over-year in February, slightly above the revised 5.5 percent growth seen in January, official data showed while economists had forecast 5.1 percent growth.

Additionally, India's consumer price inflation eased more-than-expected in March to its lowest level in fifteen months amid a slowdown in food prices.

The consumer price index climbed 5.66 percent year-over-year in March, which was slower than the 6.44 percent rise in February. Economists had forecast the rate to drop to 5.80 percent.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty rose around half a percent to extend gains for an eighth consecutive session on Wednesday amid optimism about India's economic growth in the face of global uncertainties. The rupee settled the day higher by 3 paise at 82.09 against the dollar.

Asian stocks were seeing modest losses this morning on concerns that moderating inflation in the U.S. won't be enough to prevent the Federal Reserve from hiking rates again in May.

The dollar was on the back foot and Treasury yields held in a narrow range, helping gold prices push higher. Oil prices were little changed after a two-day rally on mounting signs of tighter supplies.

WTI crude prices hit fresh 2023 highs overnight as an EIA report highlighted tightness at Cushing and strong gasoline demand.

U.S. stocks ended lower overnight after minutes from the Federal Reserve's March 21-22 policy meeting showed that central bank officials are concerned about elevated inflation and the regional bank liquidity crisis.

U.S. inflation rate eased to 5 percent in March, the lowest rise in almost 2 years, but many economists said they still expect the Fed to raise rates by another quarter point early next month.

The Dow slipped 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 shed 0.4 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9 percent.

European stocks closed slightly higher on Wednesday as U.S. inflation eased in March and a top IMF official warned of a 'hard landing" for the U.S. economy.

The pan-European STOXX 600 edged up 0.1 percent. The German DAX edged up 0.3 percent, France's CAC 40 finished marginally higher and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added half a percent.