Sensex, Nifty Set To Drift Lower On Hawkish Fed Comments

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may open on a tepid note Thursday, mirroring weak global cues. Moves in the forex and bond markets may sway sentiment as the day progresses.

A closely watched section of the U.S. yield curve remained near levels not seen in four decades, suggesting investors are bracing for a recession.

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly told CNBC that a pause in rate hikes is "off the table," right now and is not even part of the discussion.

New York Fed President John Williams said that price stability is a "must-have" for the central and that financial markets must function properly for monetary policy to be most effective.

Separately, Fed Governor or Christopher Waller said he would not make a judgement about the pace of rate hikes until he sees more data, including the next PCE inflation report and the next jobs report.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors have net sold shares worth Rs 386.06 crore on November 16, while domestic institutional investors net bought shares worth Rs 1,437.40 crore, according to provisional data available on the NSE.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended Wednesday's session slightly higher after fluctuating in early trade on rising geopolitical tensions. The rupee fell by 34 paise to close at 81.25 against the dollar.

Asian markets traded mostly lower this morning, while the dollar caught its footing on strong retail sales data released overnight.

Oil extended overnight losses after Russian oil shipments via the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary restarted.

U.S. stocks fell overnight as investors reacted to retail giant Target's warning of weaker holiday spending and a mixed batch of data on retail sales, industrial production and homebuilder confidence.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 1.5 percent while the S&P 500 gave up 0.8 percent and the Dow slipped 0.1 percent.

European stocks fell for the first time in four days on Wednesday, as geopolitical tensions injected some volatility, the ECB warned of growing risks to the financial system and data showed U.K. inflation soared to a 41-year high in October.

The pan European Stoxx 600 fell 1 percent even as NATO's chief said there are no indications that the deadly explosion in Poland was an intentional attack by Russia.

The German DAX lost 1 percent, France's CAC 40 index dipped half a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 eased 0.3 percent.