Sensex, Nifty Set To Fall Ahead Of Powell’s Jackson Hole Speech

Indian shares look set to open on a tepid note Friday as investors react to weak global cues and the RBI’s August MPC meeting minutes released late on Thursday.

Global cues remain sluggish amid speculation that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell may leave door open to higher interest rates during his speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming later in the day.

The symposium also features meetings by policymakers from the European Central Bank, Bank of England and Bank of Japan.

Closer home, the RBI’s MPC meeting minutes showed that the central bank expects inflation to witness a spike in the near months on account of supply disruptions due to adverse weather conditions.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty gave up early gains to end slightly lower on Thursday in spite of positive global cues.

The rupee rose by 12 paise to close at a three-week high of 82.57 against the dollar.

Asian markets followed Wall Street lower this morning, Treasury yields were flat, and the dollar advanced against its major rivals while oil prices headed for a second weekly decline on fuel demand concerns.

U.S. stocks ended sharply lower overnight, failing to sustain early gains after Nvidia beat earnings views and raised its guidance.

A tech rally proved to be short-lived as U.S. bond yields resumed their climb in the wake of mixed comments from Fed officials.

While Boston Fed President Susan Collins warned of further rate increases, Philly Fed President Patrick Harker said the Fed has probably done enough to curb inflation.

Former St. Louis Fed President James Bullard believes that a reacceleration in growth this summer could delay plans for the Fed to end its interest-rate increases.

On the data front, durable goods orders for July missed expectations while the latest jobless claims figures showed continued labor market resilience.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plummeted 1.9 percent, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.4 percent and the Dow lost 1.1 percent.

European stocks reversed course to end mostly lower on Thursday. The pan European STOXX 600 dropped 0.4 percent. The German DAX shed 0.7 percent and France’s CAC 40 gave up 0.4 percent while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.2 percent.

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