Sensex, Nifty Seen Slightly Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open higher on Tuesday, though volatility cannot be ruled out ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy decision due Wednesday and an ongoing sell-off in Adani Group stocks.

The promoters of the Adani group have prepaid loans worth $ 1.11 billion on Monday, thus releasing the pledged shares in three key companies.

Metal stocks could be in focus today after Tata Steel posted a surprise loss of Rs 2,501.95 crore in the quarter ended December 31 on account of higher expenses.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fell around half a percent each on Monday while the rupee fell by 65 paise to close at 82.73 against the dollar amid sustained foreign fund outflows.

Asian markets traded mostly higher this morning and the dollar eased slightly after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said she saw a path for avoiding a U.S. recession.

Gold and oil were seeing modest gains in Asian trading as investors awaited remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later in the day for additional clues about the outlook for further rate hikes.

U.S. stocks fell for a second day running overnight amid concerns the Fed might keep interest rates higher for longer to combat inflation.

The Dow slipped 0.1 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1 percent and the S&P 00 shed 0.6 percent.

European stocks fell notably on Monday in the wake of rising Sino-U.S. geopolitical tensions and heighted fears that the Fed might continue its rate hike trajectory.

The pan-European STOXX 600 declined 0.8 percent. The German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both gave up around 0.8 percent while France's CAC 40 index tumbled 1.3 percent.