Sensex, Nifty Seen Opening Lower On Hawkish Powell's Comments

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open on a sluggish note Monday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in an interview on Sunday that policymakers will likely wait beyond March to cut interest rates.

Closer home, the RBI's Monetary policy committee convenes on Thursday, with the central bank expected to keep rates on hold for the sixth time in a row.

SBI shares may fall today after the state-run lender reported Q3 profit that came in below estimates.

Meanwhile, Paytm refuted reports claiming that it may face an investigation from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on charges of money laundering by Paytm Payments Bank.

Asian markets were broadly lower this morning despite China's securities regulator pledging to stabilize the country's plunging equity markets.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission said it would guide more medium- and long-term funds into the market to prevent abnormal fluctuations.

Elsewhere, former U.S. President Donald Trump said he might impose a tariff on Chinese goods of more than 60 percent if he regains the presidency.

Gold prices dipped, while the dollar strengthened against its major rivals and U.S. Treasuries extended falls after the release of impressive U.S. labor market data.

U.S. stocks rallied Friday on the back of encouraging earnings reports from the likes of Amazon and Meta Platforms as well as robust January employment data.

Data showed the U.S. economy added 353,000 jobs in January, much higher than expectations for an increase of about 180,000 jobs.

Job growth for December was revised higher and the jobless rate came in unchanged at 3.7 percent in January, prompting investors to scale back their expectations for interest-rate cuts this year.

The Dow edged up 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 added 1.1 percent to reach new record closing highs while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.7 percent.

European stocks ended mixed Friday on waning rate cut optimism. The pan-European STOXX 600 gave up earlier gains to end on a flat note.

The German DAX rose 0.4 percent and France's CAC 40 edged up marginally while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended with a negative bias.