Sensex, Nifty Seen Up After Wall Street Rally

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening higher on Thursday, mirroring firm cues from global markets after the U.S. Federal Reserve escalated its battle against inflation.

Telecom stocks may come under selling pressure after the Union Cabinet left the reserve price of 5G airwaves unchanged.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty ended down about 0.3 percent each on Wednesday, extending losses for a fourth straight session. The rupee plunged 18 paise to close at a record low of 78.22 against the greenback.

Asian markets advanced this morning, the dollar retreated from a 20-year high and Treasury yields eased while gold traded flat after rising in the previous session.

Oil prices recovered some ground after a steep drop in the previous session.

U.S. stocks rallied overnight as the Fed intensified its drive to tame high inflation through interest-rate increases and balance sheet reduction.

After raising the target interest rate by 75 basis points - the biggest increase since 1994 - and cutting growth projection, the Fed suggested that "unusually large" moves of that scale likely wouldn't become common.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he expected either a 0.50 percentage point or 0.75 percentage point increase at the Fed's July meeting.

The S&P 500 added 1.5 percent to snap a five-day losing streak despite weak retail sales, New York factory activity and housing data. The Dow gained 1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.5 percent.

European stocks snapped their six-day losing streak on Wednesday as the European Central Bank proposed to create a new tool aimed at shielding weaker eurozone economies from higher borrowing costs.

The pan European Stoxx 600 jumped 1.4 percent. The German DAX and France's CAC 40 index both climbed around 1.4 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 1.2 percent.