Sensex, Nifty Seen Flat To Higher At Open

Indian shares are likely to open a tad higher on Wednesday, tracking mostly positive cues from other Asian markets.

That said, volatility cannot be ruled out and further selling may be witnessed in the mid-cap and small-cap spaces due to concerns over FII selling as U.S. Treasury yields hit three-month highs amid growing worries about the prospects of a rising U.S. fiscal deficit.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has maintained its global growth forecast for 2024 and 2025 at 3.2 percent and retained India’s growth forecast unchanged at 7 percent for FY25 and 6.5 percent for FY26 in the latest update to its World Economic Outlook.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fell around 1.2 percent each on Tuesday due to heavy selling by foreign institutional investors.

Foreign institutional investors have been net sellers of over Rs. 80,000 crore this month—one of the highest levels in four years.

The rupee closed at yet another record low of 84.0775 against the greenback, pressured by outflows caused by Hyundai routing back funds to its parent company in South Korea after its latest IPO.

Asian markets fluctuated this morning as U.S. Treasury 10-year yields hovered near 4.2 percent after topping that level for the first time since July.

The U.S. dollar hovered at a 2-1/2-month peak after Fed officials sounded a cautious tone over the pace of future rate reductions. Gold drifted lower after climbing to a fresh record.

Oil prices traded lower in Asian trading as industry data signaled a rise in U.S. oil inventories and the Biden administration renewed efforts to secure a cease-fire in the Middle East.

U.S. stocks ended narrowly mixed overnight as Treasury yields continued to climb on prospects for a slower pace of Federal Reserve rate cuts and amid concerns about the possible fiscal impact of U.S. presidential election results.

The Dow and the S&P 500 finished marginally lower while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.2 percent.

European stocks closed lower Tuesday on worries about the U.S. fiscal deficit and comments from Federal Reserve officials hinting at gradual rate cuts.

The pan-European STOXX 600 dipped 0.2 percent. The German DAX dipped 0.2 percent, France’s CAC 40 ended little changed and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 slid 0.1 percent.

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