Sensex, Nifty Seen Flat To Slightly Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open marginally higher on Monday, even as a cautious undertone may prevail in the face of multiple headwinds and the impending F&O expiry this week.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty both fell around 2.5 percent last week as the spread of COVID-19 worsened in China and robust U.S. economic data revived worries about higher interest rate hikes.

Global cues, movement of rupee and the evolving COVID situation in China may sway sentiment as the week progresses.

Market participants will keep an eye on the oil price movement after Brent crude futures jumped nearly 6 percent last week amid the threat to production from the G7 Russia price cap.

On the economic front, fiscal deficit data, infrastructure output numbers for November, bank loan & deposit growth figures for the fortnight ended December 16 and foreign exchange reserves data for the week ended December 23 will be released this week.

Asian markets traded mixed this morning in thin holiday trade. China will no longer publish daily figures for COVID-19 cases and deaths, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Sunday, ending a practice that began in early 2020.

U.S. stocks eked out modest gains on Friday after data showed consumer spending and inflation slowed in November but not enough to discourage the Federal Reserve from driving interest rates to higher levels next year.

The Dow rose half a percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite edged up 0.2 percent.

European stocks ended a choppy session on a mixed note Friday. The pan European STOXX 600 closed flat with a positive bias.

The German DAX edged up 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished marginally higher while France's CAC 40 index slipped 0.2 percent.