Sensex, Nifty Seen Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open a tad higher on Wednesday as weak U.S. business activity data revived investor hopes for U.S. rate cuts this year.

Investor sentiment also received a boost after electric-vehicle giant Tesla struck an upbeat tone despite a sales miss.

Closer home, HUL, LTIMindtree, Indian Hotels and Axis Bank are among the prominent companies due to announce their fourth-quarter earnings results today.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended marginally higher on Tuesday to extend gains for a third straight session while the rupee inched up by 3 paise to close at 83.33 against the dollar.

Asian markets traded mostly higher this morning, Treasuries were largely steady, and the dollar nursed losses while gold was marginally lower.

Oil was little changed after rising sharply in the previous session as industry data showed shrinking U.S. crude stockpiles.

U.S. stocks rose for a second straight session overnight as investors digested a batch of strong corporate earnings, weak manufacturing data and mixed readings on the housing sector.

Treasury yields pulled back after a survey showed U.S. business activity cooled in April to a four-month low.

The Dow rose 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 climbed 1.2 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.6 percent.

European stocks also gained for a second straight session on Tuesday and logged their best day in six weeks amid speculation over the timing of ECB and BOE rate cuts.

The pan European STOXX 600 rallied 1.1 percent. The German DAX surged 1.6 percent and France's CAC 40 gained 0.8 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.3 percent to a fresh record closing high.