Sensex, Nifty Seen Tad Lower At Open

Indian shares look set to open a tad lower on Tuesday after a strong rally in the previous session.

India’s trade deficit widened 117 percent year-on-year to $19.90 billion in October as imports surged ahead of the festival season and amid the hardening of commodity prices, preliminary data released by the commerce and industry ministry showed.

However, merchandise exports continued to remain robust in the month, rising an annual 42 percent to $35.47 billion, driven by higher demand for items such as engineering goods, petroleum products, gems and jewelry as well as organic and inorganic chemicals.

On the earnings front, Bank of India, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Dabur India, Hindustan Petroleum and Jindal Steel & Power Ltd are among the prominent companies that will unveil their quarterly earnings results today.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty jumped around 1.5 percent each on Monday while the rupee ended flat at 74.87 against the dollar.

Asian markets traded mixed as investors awaited the outcome of key central bank meetings this week amid concerns about elevated inflation.

Gold prices eased as the dollar and bond yields nudged higher ahead of a pivotal U.S. Federal Reserve meeting. Oil prices advanced ahead of a key meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies.

U.S. stocks eked out modest gains overnight to reach new record closing highs as upbeat earnings news outweighed disappointing manufacturing and construction spending data.

The Dow rose 0.3 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.6 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.2 percent.

European markets finished at record highs on Monday as several countries eased travel curbs and Japan’s LDP retained a comfortable majority in the Lower House election.

The pan European Stoxx 600 rose 0.7 percent. The German DAX gained 0.8 percent, France’s CAC 40 index climbed 0.9 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.7 percent.