Sensex, Nifty Seen Largely Unchanged Ahead Of Budget

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may open largely unchanged on Thursday as investors await cues from the interim budget statement to be presented in Lok Sabha later in the day. The fiscal deficit and taxation proposals will have direct bearings on markets.

Meanwhile, there is some disappointment on the data front as a government report showed the growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed to a 14-month low of 3.8 per cent in December 2023.

Global cues remain mostly sluggish after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank is unlikely to have enough confidence about inflation to cut rates as soon as March.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty jumped around 1 percent each on Wednesday while the rupee gained 6 paise to close at 83.04 against the dollar.

Asian markets traded mixed this morning and gold advanced while oil prices climbed after falling sharply in the overnight U.S. trading session amid worries about demand from China and a surprise build in U.S. crude inventories.

U.S. stocks tumbled overnight as Alphabet and Microsoft forecast rising artificial intelligence costs, ADP private sector jobs data disappointed and the Fed dashed investor hopes for a March rate cut amid 'elevated' inflation.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.2 percent, the S&P 500 slumped 1.6 percent and the Dow dropped 0.8 percent.

European stocks ended Wednesday's session mostly lower amid losses in the technology sector.

The pan European STOXX 600 finished marginally higher as investors reacted to inflation figures from Germany and France as well as dovish comments from ECB officials.

The German DAX slipped 0.4 percent, France's CAC 40 eased 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dipped half a percent.