Sensex, Nifty Seen Up On Firm Global Cues

Indian shares look set to open higher on Wednesday, with falling oil prices and positive cues from global markets likely to underpin investor sentiment.

The upside, however, may remain capped as the Federal Reserve prepares to announce its first rate hike since 2018 later today.

Geopolitical tensions also remain on investors’ radar as the European Union expanded its already-long list of sanctions against Russia and the latter slapped sanctions on U.S. President Joe Biden, secretary of state Antony Blinken and a several other senior officials.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video address that peace talks were sounding more realistic but more time was needed for the decisions to be in the interests of the country.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was too early to predict progress in the talks.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty fell over 1 percent each on Tuesday to snap a five-day winning streak, while the rupee fell by 6 paise to close at 76.61 against the dollar.

Asian markets traded mostly higher this morning as a sell-off in Chinese shares eased. The dollar held near a five-year peak versus the yen while gold edged up slightly, after having fallen over 1 percent to its lowest level since early March the previous day. Oil prices rose after settling below $100 a barrel on Tuesday for the first time since late February.

U.S. stocks rallied overnight as oil and industrial and agricultural commodity prices continued to fall, and a report showed producer prices moderated in February, helping ease fears of inflation and a broad economic slowdown.

The Dow surged 1.8 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.9 percent and the S&P 500 climbed 2.1 percent.

European stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday amid concerns about the impact of Covid-19 resurgence in China and the country’s support for Russia in the Ukrainian invasion.

The pan European Stoxx 600 dipped 0.3 percent. The German DAX slipped 0.1 percent, France’s CAC 40 index edged down 0.2 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 eased 0.3 percent.