Indian Shares Set To Follow Global Peers Lower

Indian shares look set to open lower on Thursday, tracking weak cues from global markets. Uncertainty over a trade deal with the United States, sustained foreign capital outflows and higher oil prices may also weigh on markets as the session progresses.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fell slightly to extend losses for a third consecutive session on Wednesday, while the rupee ended up 64 paise at 90.38 against the dollar, snapping its five-day losing streak after a reported RBI action.

During intraday trade, the rupee recovered Rs 1.04 from its previous close, marking the sharpest intraday recovery in more than seven months on aggressive dollar selling by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

FIIs were net sellers in the equity segment on Wednesday while they were net buyers in the debt segment, according to data released by NSDL.

Asian markets were mostly lower in cautious trade this morning. The dollar index was little changed while the yield on 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell slightly on comments from a Federal Reserve official supporting the case for interest-rate cuts.

Gold dipped but hovered near record levels on increased uncertainty over the U.S. economy. Oil prices climbed, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude up nearly 1 percent amid geopolitical risks stemming from Venezuela to Russia.

U.S. stocks fell sharply overnight, with semiconductor and stocks tied to the AI trade losing further ground after reports emerged that Oracle’s primary investor pulled out of one of its data center projects.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.8 percent while the S&P 500 shed 1.2 percent and the Dow dropped half a percent to extend losses for a fourth consecutive session.

European stocks ended mixed on Wednesday as tech stocks faced selling pressure on concerns over sky-high valuations. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed little changed with a negative bias.

The German DAX dipped half a percent and France’s CAC 40 slipped 0.3 percent while the U.K.’s FTSE 100 rose 0.9 percent after an unexpected drop in U.K. inflation.