Sensex, Nifty Set For Muted Open On Trade Deal Worries

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may open on a tepid note Wednesday as investors await progress in trade talks with the United States and react to earnings from Larsen & Toubro and Bank of India.

PNB, Tata Steel and IndiGo will publish their quarterly earnings results later today. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened India with tariffs as high as 25 percent but cautioned the final levy had still not been finalized.

Separately, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has said that the deadline to impose major tariffs on a slew of trading partners won't be delayed any further and that a new pharmaceutical policy will be announced within the next two weeks. It is expected to be more stringent than before.

On the positive side, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upgraded its growth forecasts tor India to 6.4 percent for both 2025-26 and 2026-27 and said the world economy would expand at a slightly faster pace than what the multilateral organization had predicted in April.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty reversed early losses to end up around 0.6 percent each on Tuesday while the rupee fell by 15 paise to close at 86.82 against the dollar, marking its lowest level in over four months.

Asian markets were mixed this morning after the U.S. and China ended two days of 'constructive' talks in Stockholm without any breakthrough.

U.S. officials said it was up to President Donald Trump to decide whether to extend a trade truce that expires on August 12.

Investors also braced for the Fed and BoJ rate decisions, key U.S. economic data releases and big tech earnings.

Gold prices were marginally lower in Asian trade as the dollar steadied after hitting a more than one-month high on Tuesday.

Oil held the biggest gain in six weeks, with Brent trading above $72 a barrel after Trump reiterated he may impose additional economic penalties on Russia unless a truce is reached with Ukraine.

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended slightly lower after weak earnings from the likes of UnitedHealth, Boeing, Merck and UPS.

Economic reports painted a mixed picture, with consumer confidence rising modestly in July while job openings and hiring decreased in June.

The Dow shed half a percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gave up 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 eased 0.3 percent to snap a six-day rally.

European stocks closed higher on Tuesday as investors assessed a slew of corporate earnings and the U.S.-EU trade deal.

The pan European STOXX 600 rose 0.3 percent. The German DAX rallied 1 percent, France's CAC 40 climbed 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.6 percent.