Sensex, Nifty Set To Follow Global Peers Lower

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open on a sluggish note Wednesday as investors fret over rising tensions in the Middle East and the U.S. interest-rate outlook.

The first policy meeting of the RB's rate-setting panel for FY25 is scheduled this week from April 3-5, 2024. A status quo on rates is likely, given the backdrop of strong growth and inflation persistently exceeding the MPC's target.

Investors also await Q4 earnings results, with major IT companies expected to report muted revenue growth.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended a choppy session marginally lower on Tuesday, while the rupee ended little changed.

Asian markets traded lower this morning, with benchmark indexes in Australia, South Korea and Japan falling over 1 percent as hopes for an early Fed rate cut faded.

Higher commodity prices as well as heightened tensions in the Middle East fueled fresh concerns about inflation and the interest-rate outlook.

The dollar was little changed in Asian trading ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech later in the day and the release of the highly anticipated U.S. jobs report later in the week.

Gold prices extended their record rally amid growing West Asia tensions. Likewise, oil extended a rally on industry data showing a drawdown in U.S. crude inventories.

U.S. stocks ended lower overnight as the yield on the benchmark ten-year note reached a four-month high on comments from Fed officials signaling higher interest rates for longer.

Encouraging readings on job openings and factory orders also added to skepticism about the pace of Fed easing.

The Dow gave up 1 percent and the S&P 500 dipped 0.7 percent to extend Monday's losses while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite declined 1 percent.

European stocks closed lower on Tuesday after the release of euro zone manufacturing, German inflation and U.K. house price data.

The pan European STOXX 600 shed 0.8 percent as trading resumed after a long holiday weekend.

The German DAX lost 1.1 percent, France's CAC 40 dipped 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slid 0.2 percent.