Indian Shares Set To Follow Asian Peers Lower

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening lower on Thursday as investors fret about rising volatility in global currency and bond markets.

Rising oil prices on renewed concerns about disruption to Middle East supplies, a weakening rupee, continued foreign investor selling and anxiety ahead of the September-quarter earnings season may also keep investors on edge.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fell around 0.6 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively on Wednesday after two days of gains.

The rupee settled 43 paise lower at 96.78 against the U.S. dollar, reaching a five-month low despite the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raising its benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points and shifting its policy stance to 'calibrated tightening' from 'neutral.'

Speaking at a post-policy conference, RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said that the rupee may be undervalued by several measures and that financial markets would find the right value only in the long run.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded Indian equities worth Rs 6,121.37 crore on a net basis on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought shares to the extent of Rs 4,596.57 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

Asian markets were broadly lower this morning, with technology stocks coming under selling pressure on concerns over rising oil prices and a surge in AI-related corporate debt.

According to a Wall Street Journal, report, SpaceX, Broadcom and Oracle were looking to raise money to buy AI chips, leaving investors worried about whether if the expected profits will materialize.

Shares of Samsung Electronics were subdued despite the company posting record profit as a result of surging memory chip prices and relentless spending on artificial-intelligence infrastructure.

Mainland Chinese shares were modestly higher, bucking the weak regional trend as trading resumed after the National Day Golden Week closure.

Gold traded half a percent higher at $4,134 an ounce as the dollar pulled back from an 18-month high in subdued trading.

Brent crude prices jumped nearly 2 percent toward $102 a barrel, reversing losses from the previous session after reports suggested that the White House asked Pentagon to develop options to strike Iran before the midterm elections, but no final decision has been made.

On Wednesday, oil prices rose on fresh concerns about Middle East supplies, before falling after the International Energy Agency agreed to speed up a planned release of oil stocks and prioritize diesel in a bid to curb record-high fuel prices.

U.S. stocks climbed well off their lows but still ended firmly in the red overnight as oil prices fluctuated and yields on government bonds climbed to 24-year highs before pulling back in the wake of a strong $39 billion auction of 10-year Treasury notes.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 both slid by 0.2 percent while the narrower Dow gave up 0.7 percent as minutes of the Fed's Sept. 15-16 meeting signaled another interest rate hike would likely be appropriate before year-end, depending on incoming information, the economic outlook and the balance of risks.

In economic releases, new data highlighted the impact of rising borrowing costs in the housing sector.

European stocks closed lower on Tuesday amid France's deepening fiscal crisis and geopolitical uncertainty.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 1 percent. The German DAX lost 1.4 percent, France's CAC 40 tumbled 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 declined 0.8 percent.