Sensex, Nifty To Follow Global Peers Higher After Powell’s Speech

Indian shares may open higher on Monday, tracking strong cues from global markets.

News surrounding Reliance AGM, India’s GDP, manufacturing and fiscal deficit numbers, core sector output data and monthly auto sales figures may influence trading sentiment as the week progresses.

Last week, benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty logged losses for the fifth straight week—the longest streak since the beginning of the week on April 15, 2022, tracking a stronger dollar and a rise in U.S. Treasury yields.

A hawkish tone from the recent RBI MPC meeting minutes also spooked investors.

Asian stocks traded higher this morning, with Chinese and Hong Kong markets climbing 2-3 percent, after Beijing announced new measures to support its capital market and revive investor confidence.

The new measures to woo investors came as data showed China’s industrial profits extended a slump into a seventh month.

Gold traded marginally higher while the dollar eased from a 12-week high ahead of U.S. readings on U.S. jobs and inflation due this week that could decide whether interest rates have to rise again.

Oil prices were slightly lower on prospects of higher supply amid signs of easing sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.

U.S. stocks finished Friday’s session on an upbeat note after Fed Chair Jerome Powell expressed confidence in continued economic growth and reiterated the central bank’s commitment to pull inflation back to the 2 percent target.

Comments from other Fed officials also gave the market confidence that the Fed is nearing the end of its rate hiking cycle.

The Dow and the S&P 500 both rose about 0.7 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.9 percent.

European markets closed on a mixed note Friday as investors reacted to Powell’s comments at the Jackson Hole Symposium and encouraging economic data from the region.

The pan European STOXX 600 ended flat with a negative bias. The German DAX and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 both finished marginally higher while France’s CAC 40 rose 0.2 percent.

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