Indian Shares Set To Rise After Wall Street Rally

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open notably higher on Thursday after Wall Street clawed back from a three-week long sell-off and oil prices fell to levels not seen before Russia's invasion of Ukraine on demand worries.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty ended Wednesday's session modestly lower while the rupee declined by 7 paise to close at 79.89 against the greenback.

Asia markets traded mostly higher this morning, though Chinese and Hong Kong stocks were subdued as Chengdu, capital of the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, extended the lockdown of most of its districts to stem further transmission of Covid-19 cases in the city.

The dollar resumed climb ahead of the ECB rate-decision and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech later in the day.

Gold prices were subdued, while oil prices rose about 1 percent after falling sharply to reach seven-month lows in the U.S. trading session.

U.S. stocks rose sharply overnight, as oil prices slumped and Treasury yields pulled back, helping cool investor concerns about inflation and interest-rate hikes.

Investors also reacted to the Fed's Beige Book report showing weak growth outlook and Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard's comments on bringing inflation down without going too far.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 2.1 percent to snap a seven-day losing streak, while the Dow climbed 1.4 percent and the S&P 500 added 1.8 percent.

European stocks ended mixed on Wednesday as weak economic data from China and the euro area coupled with the ongoing energy crisis exacerbated fears of a recession.

The pan European Stoxx 600 dropped 0.6 percent. The German DAX rose 0.4 percent and France's CAC 40 finished marginally higher while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.9 percent.