BENGALURU: Indian shares are set for a muted start on Wednesday, tracking a drop in global stocks after fresh US data raised worries of the Federal Reserve delaying interest rate cuts.
The Gift Nifty was trading at 22,453.50 as of 08:00 a.m. IST, indicating that the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 will open near Tuesday’s close of 22,453.30.
All three major Wall Street stock indexes dropped about 1% overnight, while 10-year treasury yields hit a four-month high after data signalling steady labour demand added to concerns of a potential delay in the Fed’s rate cut.
Markets have priced in a rate cut in June, with the odds of a 25 basis point cut at 61.6%, according to the CMEGroup’s FedWatch tool.
However, recent US economic data, including the strong manufacturing and the labour market readings, have raised the prospect that the Fed could delay the rate cuts.
Asian markets opened lower, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index shedding 0.7%.
Analysts expect India’s blue-chip indexes Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex to consolidate near record high levels hit on Monday, ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy decision on Friday and corporate earnings season starting next week.
Indian shares open little changed; financials pause after recent rise
India’s central bank is likely to hold rates steady until at least July, according to a Reuters poll of economists last week.
Foreign portfolio investors sold 16.23 billion rupees (about $195 million) of shares on a net basis, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth 19.53 billion rupees on Tuesday, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.
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