Sensex, Nifty Seen Slightly Higher In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may open slightly higher in cautious trade on Wednesday as investors keep a close eye on dollar and global bond yield movements.

Meanwhile, India's GDP growth in the first quarter will be better than the Reserve Bank's estimate of 8 percent, economists said.

Economists at SBI pegged the growth at 8.3 percent, while domestic rating agency ICRA estimated it to come even higher at 8.5 percent.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty pared early gains to end on a flat note Tuesday, while the rupee rose by 19 paise to close at 82.94 against the dollar - marking its biggest single-day gain in nearly 1-1/2 months.

Asian markets traded mixed this morning, with Chinese and Hong Kong stocks slipping into the red ahead of Nvidia's earnings results due later in the day and a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday.

Data showed Japan's factory activity shrank in August and Australia's business activity contracted at the fastest pace in 19 months, adding to concerns over slowing global growth.

Gold held above $1,900 per ounce as the dollar hovered below two-month highs.

Oil prices were marginally higher after the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a 2.418-million-barrel draw on U.S. crude inventories.

U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as disappointing housing data helped the 10-year Treasury yield to ease from a fresh 16-year high hit earlier in the global day.

Banking stocks were sold off after S&P Global Ratings downgraded several regional banks by one notch. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished marginally higher, while the S&P 500 eased 0.3 percent and the Dow shed half a percent.

European stocks gained for a second consecutive session on Tuesday as chipmakers rallied ahead of Nvidia's earnings release.

The pan European STOXX 600 rose 0.7 percent. The German DAX climbed 0.7 percent, France's CAC 40 added 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up 0.2 percent.