Sensex, Nifty Likely To Open Lower As Oil Extends Rally

Indian shares may open on a sluggish note Tuesday as investors react to weak cues from global markets and await the final results of the assembly elections in Haryana and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The counting of votes began at 8 am today.

The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) began its three-day deliberations on Monday and analysts widely expect the repo rate to remain steady at 6.50 percent despite global economic uncertainties and falling retail inflation.

On the geopolitical front, Israeli forces killed at least 77 people across the Gaza Strip on Monday while Lebanon’s Hezbollah claimed missile attacks on the Israeli port city of Haifa and a military base near the central city of Tel Aviv.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty gave up early gains to end deep in the red on Monday while the rupee settled flat at 83.99 against the dollar.

Asian markets were broadly lower this morning even as Chinese stocks extended their rally as stock markets reopened after the Golden Week holiday.

Gold edged up slightly and the dollar clung to seven-week highs against major currencies ahead of key U.S. inflation data and the release of FOMC September meeting minutes due this week.

Oil prices fell about 1 percent after rallying to their highest in over a month on Monday.

U.S. stocks fell sharply overnight as traders pared bets on aggressive Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts and fretted about the impact of rising oil prices on inflation and interest rates.

The Dow dipped 0.9 percent, the S&P 500 shed 1 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.2 percent as Treasury yields climbed above 4 percent for the first time since August.

European stocks eked out modest gains on Monday buoyed by last Friday’ rally on Wall Street.

The pan European STOXX 600 edged up 0.2 percent. France’s CAC 40 rose half a percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 added 0.3 percent while the German DAX finished marginally lower.