Indian Markets Closed For Public Holiday

(RTTNews) - Indian markets remain closed today on account of Ambedkar Jayanti.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fluctuated before ending on a flat note Thursday as investors weighed positive industrial output and inflation readings against TCS' disappointing earnings report.

After market hours, Infosys forecast its lowest revenue growth in six years and warned of trouble in key finance sectors.

The Indian rupee gained 27 paise to close at 81.84 against the dollar after data showed U.S. inflation rate eased to 5 percent in March, the lowest rise in almost 2 years - bolstering bets that the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its rate-hike cycle.

Asian markets were broadly higher this morning, thanks to easing concerns over inflation and interest-rate hikes.

In its half-yearly monetary statement today, Singapore's central bank kept its policy settings unchanged after five straight tightening moves since October 2021.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore said the tightening already underway would ensure inflation slowed sharply later this year. The Straits Times index was up half a percent.

The dollar languished near a two-month low against major peers and gold traded at a 13-month high on bets that the Federal Reserve may soon pause its hiking of interest rates to tame high inflation.

Some economists expect the Fed to raise interest rates for the last time at its FOMC meeting in May.

Oil prices were tad higher in Asian trading, after having slipped overnight following OPEC's warning on potential headwinds.

U.S. stocks rallied overnight after data showed producer prices unexpectedly fell in March and new claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, helping ease concerns about the outlook for interest rates.

The Dow jumped 1.1 percent and the S&P 500 added 1.3 percent to reach their best closing levels in nearly two months while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumped 2 percent.

European stocks closed higher for a fourth straight session on Thursday, as China reported robust export growth in March, LVMH posted strong Q1 sales growth and reports suggested that ECB policymakers are converging on a 25-bps rate hike in May. The pan European STOXX 600 rose 0.4 percent. The German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both edged up around 0.2 percent while France's CAC 40 gained 1.1 percent.