Sensex, Nifty Seen Up As Oil And Yields Extend Slide

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are likely to open on a positive note Thursday after both Brent crude and WTI contracts fell more than 2 percent overnight to hit their lowest since mid-July on concerns over waning demand in the U.S. and China.

India is the world's third-largest oil importer and consumer. Calculations based on government data show that the country saved roughly $2.7 billion by importing discounted Russian oil in the first nine months of this year.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fluctuated before finishing marginally higher on Wednesday. The rupee ended little changed at 83.27 against the dollar.

Asian markets were broadly higher this morning on hopes that global interest rates may have peaked.

Investors looked ahead to Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech later in the day after he refrained from specifically addressing monetary policy in opening remarks at the U.S. central bank statistics conference on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, market participants shrugged off data showing that China's October CPI fell 0.2 percent year on year and PPI dropped 2.6 percent.

The dollar held steady after three sessions of gains. Gold was marginally higher while oil edged up slightly, recovering from near-four-month lows.

U.S. stocks fluctuated before ending mixed overnight and Treasury yields pulled back as the Treasury Department's auction of $40 billion worth of ten-year notes attracted average demand.

The Dow eased 0.1 percent while the S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished marginally higher to extend their winning streak to eight and nine sessions, respectively.

European stocks closed higher on Wednesday as investors reacted to strong earnings reports and hawkish comments from Fed officials.

The pan European STOXX 600 gained 0.3 percent. The German DAX rose half a percent and France's CAC 40 climbed 0.7 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1 percent.