Sensex, Nifty Set For Soft Start Ahead Of Powell Testimony
(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening lower on Wednesday, as investors await Fed Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimonies due today and tomorrow for clues on the monetary policy path ahead.
Powell will give his semi-annual report to Congress after keeping interest rates unchanged at last week's FOMC meeting.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the U.S. will also be in focus, with bilateral agreements expected to be signed in key areas like trade, defense, technology etc;
Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty rose around 0.3 percent each on Tuesday despite mixed cues from global markets and weakness in rupee, which closed 0.21 percent lower at 82.1175 against the dollar.
Asian markets were mostly lower this morning, gold hovered near three-month lows and the dollar found footing on the back of upbeat U.S. housing data while oil extended declines for a third consecutive session on fuel demand concerns.
U.S. stocks declined overnight as investors awaited Fed Chair's congressional testimony and comments by a number of other Fed officials for clues to the outlook for monetary policy.
Strong housing data also revived concerns about the outlook for inflation and interest rates.
The Dow gave up 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 shed half a percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite eased 0.2 percent.
European stocks closed lower on Tuesday as modest cuts in China's loan prime rates failed to inspire investors.
The pan European STOXX 600 fell 0.6 percent. The German DAX dropped 0.6 percent, while France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both slipped around 0.3 percent.
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