Sensex, Nifty Seen Up On Growth Optimism

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open higher on Thursday despite mixed cues from global markets.

The Indian economy appears to have a promising future with a predicted growth rate of 7 percent in the next fiscal year, the finance ministry said in a report.

India's GDP will likely touch $5 trillion over the next four years, making it the 3rd largest economy by 2027, overtaking Japan and Germany, global brokerage Jefferies said in a note.

The digital public infrastructure (DPIs) has the potential to drive India's GDP growth by three times till 2030, according to a study by Nasscom.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty gave up early gains to end down about 0.6 percent each on Wednesday, snapping a six-day winning streak. The rupee ended largely unchanged at 82.96 against the dollar.

Asian markets were broadly higher this morning as investors cheered upbeat Nvidia's fourth quarter earnings along with its upbeat earnings forecast for the current quarter.

Meanwhile, as part of continued efforts to end market rout, China has banned major institutional investors from reducing equity holdings at the open and close of each trading day.

Japan's factory and service sector activity data for February disappointed while elsewhere the Bank of Korea held its policy rate steady, as widely expected.

The dollar was broadly steady in Asian trade and gold ticked higher while oil prices dipped marginally after rising about 1 percent on Wednesday.

U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as Nvidia earnings loomed and minutes from the Federal Reserve's Jan. 30-31 meeting revealed most officials remain wary of cutting interest rates "too quickly," fearing progress on inflation could stall out.

The Dow and the S&P 500 recovered from earlier losses to end about 0.1 percent higher while the the-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.3 percent to extend losses for the third straight session.

European stocks also ended mixed on Wednesday as investors weighed improved Eurozone consumer confidence data against disappointing earnings updates from U.K. mining and banking heavyweights.

The pan European STOXX 600 eased 0.2 percent. The German DAX edged up 0.3 percent and France's CAC 40 added 0.2 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.7 percent.