Sensex, Nifty Seen Lower After US Rating Downgrade

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may open a tad lower on Wednesday as investors react to tepid global cues, mixed auto sales data for July and upbeat GST collection data showing 11 percent year-on-year growth in collection in July.

Cement and Adani Group stocks could be in focus today after reports that Ambuja Cements is all set to acquire a majority stake in operations of Sanghi Industries.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended a choppy session marginally lower on Tuesday while the rupee settled 7 paise higher at 82.22 against the dollar.

Asian markets drifted lower this morning after Fitch downgraded the U.S. government's credit rating from AAA to AA+, citing a steady deterioration in standards of governance.

Mixed U.S. earnings also weighed, with Advanced Micro Devices reporting better-than-expected quarterly results while Starbucks missed market expectations for quarterly comparable sales.

Gold edged higher on dollar weakness while oil prices rose more than 1 percent in Asian trade after industry data showed a sharp drop in U.S. crude stocks last week.

U.S. stocks ended mostly lower overnight as caution crept in ahead of key earnings and the U.S. jobs data due this week.

In economic releases, U.S. manufacturing activity contracted for the ninth consecutive month in July and construction spending rose by slightly less than expected in June while job openings fell to the lowest level in more than two years in June, separate reports showed.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gave up 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 eased 0.3 percent while the Dow edged up 0.2 percent to reach its best closing level in well over a year after Caterpillar reported strong second-quarter profits.

European stocks closed lower on Tuesday as weak manufacturing PMI data from Asia, Europe and the U.S. revived growth worries.

The pan European STOXX 600 fell 0.9 percent in its biggest single-day percentage loss in nearly a month.

The German DAX lost 1.3 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.4 percent.