Sensex, Nifty Seen Flat To Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may open a tad higher on Thursday after a sell-off in the previous session.

Markets may see sideways movement as the dollar surged and U.S. Treasury yields hit their highest in nearly nine months on worries about U.S. fiscal position and after the release of strong ADP private sector employment data.

Online gaming and casino stocks may see increased activity after the GST Council decided to go ahead with the levy of 28 percent GST on the face value of chips bought at casinos and the bet amount for online games.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fell around 1 percent each on Wednesday while the rupee dropped 33 paise to close at a nearly one-month low of Rs. 82.59 per dollar.

Asian stocks traded mostly lower, adding to steep losses in the previous session.

Gold held near three-week lows while oil prices were up slightly after settling down about 2 percent in the U.S. trading session overnight.

Investors await Apple Inc. earnings due later today, with the iPhone maker expected to report its third consecutive year-over-year revenue decline. Amazon will also unveil its quarterly earnings later in the day.

U.S. stocks and bonds suffered a wave of selling overnight after a surprise downgrade of the country's debt rating by Fitch, citing fiscal deterioration and repeated debt ceiling standoffs.

Also, data showed U.S. private sector employment jumped by much more than expected in July, reviving Fed rate hike bets.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.2 percent while the Dow lost 1 percent and the S&P 500 gave up 1.4 percent.

European stocks also closed sharply lower on Wednesday amid worries about slowing global growth and the mounting cost to finance U.S. debt as interest rates rise.

The German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both fell around 1.4 percent while France's CAC 40 shed 1.3 percent.