Sensex, Nifty Set To Follow Global Peers Higher As US Inflation Cools

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to follow global peers higher on Thursday as investors react to lower-than-expected U.S. core inflation data for December and strong earnings reports from major U.S. banks.

That said, concerns over rising oil prices, signs of slowing corporate earnings growth, continued foreign fund outflows and uncertainty around U.S. President-elect Trump's tariff threats may lead to volatility as the session progresses.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty eked out modest gains on Wednesday while the rupee gained 28 paise to close at 86.36 against the dollar after falling for five consecutive days. That marked the biggest single-day gain since June 3, 2024 for the Indian currency.

Asian markets followed Wall Street higher this morning as soft U.S. producer price and consumer inflation readings kept alive the prospect of Federal Reserve rate cuts this year.

Treasuries and the dollar were little changed after several Fed officials expressed confidence that U.S. inflation would continue to ebb.

Gold held steady near $2,700 per ounce while oil prices were mixed after climbing more than 2 percent on Wednesday, supported by a large draw in U.S. crude stockpiles and potential supply disruptions caused by new U.S. sanctions on Russia.

U.S. stocks rallied overnight, the dollar dipped, and bond yields fell as investors cheered a soft inflation print and upbeat earnings from the likes of JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

Data showed the consumer price index (CPI) rose in line with expectations at an annual rate of 2.9 percent in December, from November's 2.7 percent - matching expectations.

The annual rate of core consumer price growth unexpectedly slowed to 3.2 percent from 3.3 percent, raising expectations that the Federal Reserve could ease rates further.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite soared 2.5 percent, the Dow climbed 1.7 percent and the S&P 500 surged 1.8 percent - logging their largest daily percentage gains in over two months.

European stocks rose sharply on Wednesday after the release of encouraging consumer price inflation data from the U.K. and the U.S.

The pan-European STOXX 600 gained 1.3 percent, snapping a three-day losing streak and clocking its best performance since August 2024.

The German DAX rallied 1.5 percent, France's CAC 40 added 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 1.2 percent.