Sensex, Nifty May See Modest Gains At Open

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may see modest gains at open on Thursday, helped by positive global cues and a significant downside in oil prices.

Crude prices were modestly higher in Asian trading after having tumbled around 9 percent in the previous two sessions on concerns about the demand outlook in the United States and China.

The rupee may extend gains from the previous session as the dollar struggled to advance despite hawkish Fed rhetoric.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended down over 1 percent each on Wednesday after two days of gains.

The rupee settled 23 paise higher at 82.77 against the greenback, snapping a two-day fall and recovering from its record low on the back of easing crude oil prices.

Asian markets were seeing modest gains this morning in cautious trade, with Hong Kong stocks outperforming.

The yen softened against the dollar, while oil and gold prices were seeing modest gains amid the COVID-19 surge in China and expectations of an impending global recession.

China's COVID data is not giving an accurate picture of the situation there and underrepresents the number of hospitalizations and deaths from the disease, Mike Ryan, WHO's emergencies director, told reporters in Geneva.

U.S. stocks fluctuated before eventually finishing higher overnight as latest data revealed contraction in manufacturing activity and the minutes from the Fed's December policy meeting showed interest rates will stay high through 2023 to curb "unacceptably high" inflation.

The Dow edged up 0.4 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.7 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.8 percent.

European stocks closed on a buoyant note Wednesday amid more positive economic data and signs of cooling inflation in the region.

The pan European STOXX 600 jumped 1.4 percent. The German DAX surged 2.2 percent, France's CAC 40 index rallied 2.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent.