Sensex, Nifty Set To Open Lower Amid Rising Global Bond Yields

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open on a weak note on Wednesday, with trade tensions and caution ahead of the two-day Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting, scheduled for Sept 3-4, likely to keep investors on edge.

Risks remain skewed to the downside amid uncertainty over U.S. trade tariffs and rising oil prices on supply concerns.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he is not looking at lowering tariffs on India and there is an imbalanced trade relationship with New Delhi because of high Indian levies.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty gave up early gains to end modestly lower on Tuesday amid the weekly Nifty F&O expiry. The rupee declined 8 paise to close at a record low of 88.18 against the U.S. dollar.

Asian markets were mostly lower this morning while Treasuries stabilized and the dollar extended gains for a second consecutive session. Gold held its gains after closing at a record high on Tuesday.

Oil prices were little changed after settling up more than 1 percent a barrel on Tuesday as the U.S. imposed sanctions targeting Iran's oil revenue stream and expectations mounted that an escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine would disrupt supply.

The upcoming OPEC+ meeting on Sunday remains on investors' radar, with analysts expecting the group will not unwind remaining voluntary cuts.

Overnight, Wall Street kicked off September on a sour note due to rising pressure from the bond market and weak data, with U.S. factory activity contracting in August for a sixth straight month, impacted by import tariffs.

The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 4.27 percent from 4.23 percent and the 30-year yield climbed back toward 5 percent as President Trump's bid to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook raised alarms over central bank independence and a court ruling challenged Trump-era tariffs.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended 0.8 percent lower, after having slumped nearly 1.5 percent earlier. The S&P 500 declined 0.7 percent and the Dow dipped 0.6 percent. European stocks fell by the most in a month on Tuesday as long-dated European bond yields hit multiyear highs and data showed annual Eurozone inflation ticked up to 2.1 percent last month.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 1.5 percent. The German DAX plummeted 2.3 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gave up 0.9 percent.