Indian Shares Poised For A Subdued Opening

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open on a subdued note as a rebound in cryptocurrencies lost steam and focus shifted to upcoming U.S. economic data and central bank meetings.

Lingering uncertainty over the Indo-U.S. trade deal may also keep investors on edge. Foreign brokerage Nomura in its latest note said it believes the trade deal will be signed soon, and tariffs will likely be set closer to 20 percent.

A three-day RBI MPC meeting will get underway today, with most analysts expecting the central bank to keep the repo rate unchanged at 5.50 percent.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fell around 0.6 percent each on Tuesday to extend losses for a third straight session.

The rupee hit the psychological 90-a-dollar level in intraday trade before settling 42 paise lower at a record low of 89.95 against the U.S. dollar amid sustained importer demand for the American currency and foreign fund outflows.

Foreign investors net sold shares worth Rs 3,642 crore on Tuesday while domestic institutional investors net bought shares to the extent of Rs 4,646 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

Asian markets were moving in tight ranges this morning as a private survey showed growth in China's services sector slipped to a five-month low in November.

The dollar index slipped while gold ticked higher as investors braced for a widely expected Federal Reserve interest-rate cut next week.

Investors are also focused on upcoming U.S. economic data, including November ADP employment figures on Wednesday and the delayed September Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, due on Friday.

Oil was little changed after declining in the previous session as investors watched Russia-Ukraine peace talks.

High-stakes U.S.-Russia talks on ending the war in Ukraine failed to yield a breakthrough on Tuesday, as the Kremlin said "no compromise" had been found yet on the key question of territory.

Talks with U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were "very useful" but much work remains to be done, a senior aide to the Russian President has said.

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended higher, recovering some losses from the previous session as Bitcoin steadied after Monday's 8 percent plunge, Treasury yields eased and appetite returned to large-cap tech shares.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.6 percent, the Dow gained 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.3 percent, a day after ending their runs of five consecutive winning sessions.

European stocks ended Tuesday's session on a mixed note, with Ukraine peace talks and upcoming central bank meetings in focus.

The pan European Stoxx 600 closed flat with a positive bias. The German DAX rose half a percent, while France's CAC 40 slipped 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished marginally lower.