Sensex, Nifty Set For Muted Start As TCS Announces Layoffs

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open on a cautious note Monday, with IT stocks likely to be in focus after TCS, India's largest IT services firm, said it would lay off about 2 percent, or 12,261 employees, of its global workforce this year in the wake of global economic uncertainties and artificial intelligence-driven technological changes. Fears over the August 1 U.S. tariff deadline and foreign fund outflows may also weigh on markets as the session progresses.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday stated that the India-U.S. trade talks were 'making fast progress', with both sides looking to finalize the first tranche of the agreement by fall (September-October).

A team of negotiators from the U.S. government will visit New Delhi in the second half of August to hold the next round of talks for a trade agreement, a senior government official said.

Meanwhile, when asked about a possible deadline extension, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that August 1 was the final deadline and there would be "no extensions, no more grace periods".

Asian markets were mostly higher this morning ahead of a busy week on the global front, with the Fed and BoJ rate decisions, and megacap tech results eyed. Japan's Nikkei traded lower due to disputes over key claims in the U.S. investment and trade deal.

Markets elsewhere were flat to slightly higher after the U.S. and the European Union finalized a comprehensive trade deal that places a 15 percent tariff on most EU goods entering the U.S., half the 30 percent import tax rate U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened to implement starting on Friday.

The agreement includes $750 billion in EU energy purchases and $600 billion in new EU investments in U.S.

Additionally, media reports suggest that the U.S. and China are likely to extend their tariff truce for three months as talks commence in Stockholm.

The dollar slipped and the euro strengthened as investors await more clarity about the U.S.-EU trade agreement.

Gold held near a two-week low while oil edged up slightly as concerns about a potentially painful trade war eased.

U.S. stocks rose Friday on the back of strong earnings, hopes for more U.S. trade deals and easing Fed independence fears.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.4 percent to reach new record closing highs while the narrower Dow gained half a percent.

European stocks closed mostly lower on Friday after U.S. President Trump said there was only a "50-50 chance" of making a trade deal with the EU ahead of his self-imposed deadline of August 1.

The pan European STOXX 600 slipped 0.3 percent. The German DAX dipped 0.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE shed 0.2 percent, while France's CAC 40 rose 0.2 percent.