Indian Shares Seen Tad Higher At Open As Oil Extends Slide

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening a tad higher on Thursday as oil prices continued to fall in international markets on eased supply concerns.

Markets may draw some comfort from central bankers' commentary suggesting that inflation risks have become more balanced.

That said, continued FII selling, a weakening rupee and caution ahead of the upcoming Q1 corporate earnings season may prompt profit taking at higher levels as the session progresses.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty rose around 0.6 percent each on Wednesday after two straight sessions of losses.

The rupee settled 58 paise lower at 95.24 against the dollar, crossing the 95 per dollar mark for the first time in almost a month and marking its steepest fall since June 8 despite RBI intervention.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers in Indian equities and offloaded shares worth Rs 1,140 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors net bought shares to the extent of Rs 3,159 crore, according to provisional data available on the exchanges.

Asian markets were broadly lower this morning as AI-related concerns triggered a sharp sell-off in semiconductor shares.

South Korea and Japan led regional losses after reports emerged that Apple Inc. is in negotiations to purchase chips from two Chinese semiconductor makers on a Pentagon blacklist to reduce the impact of an ongoing global memory chip shortage.

The U.S. dollar was steady as investors braced for crucial U.S. non-farm payrolls data due later in the day.

Gold held an overnight rebound, trading at $4,048 an ounce on easing fears of a U.S rate hike in July.

Brent crude futures fell below $71 a barrel, reaching its lowest level in late February after signs of progress in U.S.-Iran indirect talks and improvement in crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz.

Qatar said the next round of indirect talks between the two countries will be held at the earlier possible time following the funeral procession of Iran's former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended slightly lower, with chipmakers falling on concerns over lofty valuations and big AI spending.

The United States and Iran concluded a round of indirect talks on Wednesday without clear progress toward a lasting peace.

While U.S. President Donald Trump touted progress towards 'denuclearization', Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the countries had agreed to establish a communication channel to report and record violations of their initial MoU.

In economic news, a survey showed U.S. manufacturing activity slowed in June after surging in the prior month. ADP said U.S. businesses added 98,000 new jobs in June - the smallest increase in three months.

At the annual ECB Forum in Sintra, Portugal, Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said inflation risks have eased in recent weeks while repeating his determination to bring inflation back to the 2 percent target. He avoided giving any rate path guidance.

The Dow finished marginally higher after reaching a record closing high in the previous session.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.7 percent and the S&P 500 slid 0.2 percent, with gains in Meta Platforms helping cushion overall losses to some extent.

European stocks eased from record highs on Wednesday, with uncertainty about U.S.-Iran peace talks and the loss of momentum in the AI-driven tech rally contributing to the subdued trend.

The downside was capped after ECB President Christine Lagarde said risks to euro-area inflation and growth have become less pronounced.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 0.4 percent. France's CAC 40 shed 0.8 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slid 0.2 percent while the German DAX edged up 0.2 percent.