Sensex, Nifty Seen Lower As Bond Yields Jump After Weak US Treasury Auction

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may open lower on Friday, tracking weak global cues and a jump in Treasury yields after Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated the Fed will make future monetary policy decisions "meeting by meeting" based on the totality of incoming data and the implications for the outlook for economic activity and inflation.

Investors may also react negatively to RBI governor Shaktikanta Das's comments that retail inflation remains vulnerable to recurring and overlapping food price shocks.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended down around 0.2 percent each on Thursday while the rupee settled 1 paise higher at 83.29 against the dollar.

Asian markets were moving lower this morning on concerns about the outlook for interest rates after two-year Treasury yield crossed 5 percent.

The dollar index held gains, keeping bullion prices on track for their worst week in over a month. Oil prices traded mixed on lingering concerns over waning demand in the U.S. and China.

In the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday his country does not seek to conquer, occupy or govern Gaza after its war against Hamas but a a civilian government would need to take shape in Gaza and Israel would make sure an attack like Oct. 7 does not happen again.

U.S. stocks fell overnight while bond yields rose sharply following a weak sale of 30-year notes and comments Fed Chair Jerome Powell that the U.S. central bank "will not hesitate" to resume raising rates if it becomes appropriate.

Powell said that inflation has slowed over the past year but the process of getting inflation sustainably down to 2 percent has a long way to go.

The Dow dropped 0.7 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.9 percent and the S&P 500 gave up 0.8 percent to snap their longest winning streaks in two years.

European stocks closed higher on Thursday as impressive earnings updates outweighed hawkish comments from Fed and ECB officials.

The pan European STOXX 600 gained 0.8 percent. The German DAX climbed 0.8 percent, France's CAC 40 rallied 1.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.7 percent.