Indian Shares Set To Follow Global Peers Lower

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open on a subdued note on Thursday due to ongoing geopolitical tensions and tariff-related concerns.

Continued foreign portfolio outflows and lackluster global cues may also weigh on sentiment as investors await cues from the quarterly earnings season.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended slightly lower to extend losses for a third day running on Wednesday, with banks, metal and auto stocks leading losses.

The rupee settled 31 paise higher at 89.87 against the U.S. dollar on possible intervention by the Reserve Bank of India and a fall in global crude oil prices.

Foreign investors offloaded shares worth Rs 1,528 crore on a net basis Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors bought shares to the extent of Rs 2,889 crore, as per provisional data on the exchanges.

Asian markets were mostly lower this morning, with Seoul stocks outperforming after tech giant Samsung Electronics surpassed 20 trillion won (approximately $13.8 billion) in quarterly operating profit for the first time in the fourth quarter of last year.

Traders pondered the rate path for the Federal Reserve this year amid escalating geopolitical tensions and rising concerns about the global economic outlook.

Investors also digested uneven economic data from the United States and looked ahead to the release of crucial jobs data as well as a Supreme Court ruling on President Donald Trump's global tariffs for further direction.

Treasuries held overnight gains, and the dollar was steady against major currencies amid bets that the Federal Reserve will deliver at least two interest-rate cuts this year.

Oil prices were little changed after two days of declines, with a larger-than-expected draw in U.S. crude inventories offering some support.

Gold was subdued after falling more than 1 percent on Wednesday due to profit taking. Overnight, U.S. stocks fluctuated before eventually ending mixed.

The S&P 500 slid 0.3 percent and the Dow dipped 0.9 percent after reaching record closing highs the previous day.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up by 0.2 percent as a slew of economic reports reinforced the view of a slowing yet resilient economy.

The JOLTS report hinted at a cooling labor market, while ADP reported a modest rebound in private hiring and the ISM Services PMI surprised to the upside.

European stocks also turned in a mixed performance on Wednesday as investors monitored the latest U.S.-Venezuela developments and assessed the outlook for the ECB's policy this year.

The pan European Stoxx 600 closed flat with a negative bias. While the German DAX surged 0.9 percent, France's CAC 40 finished marginally lower. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.7 percent after a recent run of record highs.