Sensex, Nifty Seen Tad Higher At Open After Wall Street Rally

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open higher on Monday after the major U.S. averages recorded their best monthly gains since 2020 in July.

That said, a cautious undertone may prevail as investors await global PMI data, the outcome of RBI policy meeting on Aug 5 and the monthly U.S. jobs data due on Friday for clues to the outlook for growth and rates.

The RBI is likely to announce a 35-50 bps hike in the repo rate to combat inflation while supporting growth.

Asian markets traded mixed this morning, with Chinese and Hong Kong stocks slipping into the red, after official data showed an unexpected contraction in China's manufacturing activity in July against the backdrop of fresh COVID-19 outbreaks and a darkening global outlook.

Separately, a private survey revealed that activity in China's manufacturing sector expanded at a slower pace in the month.

The U.S. dollar hovered near a three-week low against its peers while oil prices declined in Asian trading on worries about the outlook for demand.

U.S. stocks rose for a third straight session on Friday as strong quarterly earnings from the likes of Amazon and Apple helped investors look past inflation concerns, with a key inflation gauge surging sharply again in June.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.9 percent to reach a nearly three-month closing high, while the Dow added 1 percent and the S&P 500 surged 1.4 percent to hit their best closing levels in well over a month.

European stocks also closed higher on Friday as data showed economic growth in the euro zone accelerated in the second quarter.

The pan European Stoxx 600 climbed 1.3 percent. The German DAX rose 1.5 percent, France's CAC 40 jumped 1.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 surged 1.1 percent.