Sensex, Nifty Seen Little Changed As Investors Look To Fed

Indian shares are seen opening little changed on Wednesday as investors look ahead to the Fed’s interest-rate decision later in the day.

Market participants are waiting to see whether the Fed will signal a pause for September after a likely 25 basis point rate hike.

Earnings would continue to remain in focus, with Tata Motors posting better-than-expected profit on improved JLR performance and Larsen & Toubro announcing a Rs. 10,000-crore share buyback at Rs. 3,000 per share.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund raised its growth prospects for 2023 to 6.1 percent, a 0.2 percentage point increase from April but cautioned that persistent challenges could dampen the medium-term outlook.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fluctuated before ending narrowly mixed on Tuesday.

The rupee ended slightly weak at 81.87 against the dollar, snapping a three-day winning run due to RBI intervention and importer hedging.

Asian stocks were subdued this morning and the dollar steadied ahead of the Fed, ECB and BOJ meetings, while gold and oil prices were slightly lower.

U.S. stocks advanced overnight following upbeat earnings from the likes of General Electric and 3M, and data showing that consumer confidence increased to a two-year high in July as inflationary pressures eased.

The Dow inched up marginally to close higher for the twelfth straight session and the S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent to reach its best closing level in over a year while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.6 percent.

European markets closed broadly higher on Tuesday as investors reacted to gloomy business confidence data from Germany and China’s pledge to step up support for its sputtering economy.

The pan European STOXX 600 rose half a percent. The German DAX inched up 0.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 0.2 percent while France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.2 percent.