Sensex, Nifty Seen Higher At Open

Indian shares may open on a positive note Monday, though volatility is not ruled out in the wake of mixed cues from global markets and escalating Middle East tensions due to Israel intensifying attacks on Iranian-backed forces.

It’s going to be truncated week for domestic markets due to the Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti holiday on Wednesday, October 2.

In economic releases, core sector output data is due later in the day while manufacturing and service sector PMI readings for September will be out on Tuesday and Friday, respectively. Monthly auto sales data for September will be released staring Oct. 1.

Asian stocks traded mixed this morning, with Chinese and Hong Kong markets extending their last week’s rally as three of China’s largest cities relaxed rules for homebuyers and China’s central bank revised the mortgage rate pricing mechanism to ease financial pressure on homeowners.

Japan’s Nikkei index slumped more than 4 percent in reaction to a sharply stronger yen after perceived monetary policy hawk Shigeru Ishiba won the prime ministerial contest.

The dollar slipped while gold eased but headed for a fourth consecutive quarterly gain. Oil prices rose on increasing concerns of potential supply disruptions from the Middle East producing region.

U.S. stocks ended mixed on Friday as AI investor favorite Nvidia led a broad selloff for chipmakers, offsetting soft PCE inflation report and data showing strong sentiment among U.S. consumers.

Data showed the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation slowed to 2.2 percent in August from 2.5 percent in July, compared with economists’ expectations of 2.3 percent.

Core PCE remained sticky at 2.7 percent, raising concerns the Fed may not go for consecutive rate cuts.

The Dow edged up 0.3 percent to a new record closing high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 shed 0.4 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.

European stocks advanced on Friday amid China’s efforts to stimulate its economy and the release of soft U.S., French and Spanish inflation data.

The pan-European STOXX 600 gained half a percent to close at a record high. The German DAX rallied 1.2 percent, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.6 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 added 0.4 percent.