Sensex, Nifty Set For Lackluster Open On Muted Global Cues

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening on a flat note Wednesday amid mixed catalysts. Global cues remain muted while oil prices were subdued ahead of this weekend's OPEC+ meeting.

The FOMC minutes did little to dislodge market expectations that its monetary tightening cycle was over.

U.S. chip giant Nvidia posted better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter results, but warned export restrictions on China would weigh on its fiscal fourth quarter.

In the Middle East, Israel's government agreed to exchange 50 women and children hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for a four-day pause in fighting.

Closer home, the Indian economy is likely to have grown 7 percent in the second quarter of the current financial year, higher than the RBI's projections on the back of robust investment activities, research firm ICRA said.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty rose around half a percent each on Tuesday while the rupee settled four paise higher at 83.34 against the dollar.

Asian markets traded mostly lower this morning after Chinese police arrested game-streaming company DouYu International Holdings Ltd.'s founder Chen Shaojie on unspecified charges in a tough crackdown on alleged wrongdoing.

The dollar index held around 2-1/2-month lows and gold held below the key $2,000 per ounce level while oil prices were slightly lower after industry data showed U.S. crude stocks rose by nearly 9.1 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 17. Treasuries held steady in Asian trade after climbing Tuesday.

U.S. stocks ended slightly lower overnight as retail earnings disappointed and minutes from the Fed's last rate-setting meeting showed officials expect to keep interest rates at a restrictive level for "sometime" and raise interest rates if progress in controlling inflation faltered.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.6 percent to snap a five-session winning streak, while the S&P 500 and the Dow eased around 0.2 percent each.

European stocks fell slightly on Tuesday as hawkish comments from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and ECB President Christine Lagarde dented rate cut hopes.

The pan European STOXX 600 ended flat with a negative bias. The German index ended marginally lower while France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both fell around 0.2 percent.