Sensex, Nifty Set To Follow Asian Peers Lower

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may drift lower at open on Thursday amid Fed caution and lingering tariff concerns.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty swung between gains and losses before finishing marginally lower on Wednesday.

Foreign portfolio investors resumed their selling streak on Wednesday and offloaded shares worth Rs 1,881.30 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) remained net buyers, picking up stocks worth Rs 1,957 crore, as per provisional data.

Asian markets were deep in the red this morning, with benchmark indexes in Australia, Hong Kong and Japan falling 1-2 percent.

Earlier today, the People's Bank of China kept the 1-year loan prime rate steady at 3.1 percent and the 5-year LPR unchanged at 3.6 percent, as widely expected.

The dollar index was up slightly, and gold prices were steady near recent record highs while oil dipped after industry data pointed to another build in U.S. crude stockpiles.

U.S. stocks eked out modest gains overnight as investors scrutinized the Fed's January 28-29 policy meeting minutes and weighed the potential effect of President's Trump's tariff proposals on inflation and growth.

The latest FOMC meeting minutes revealed that officials want to see further progress on inflation before they consider resuming lowering interest rates.

Several remarked that policy could be eased if labor market conditions deteriorated, economic activity faltered, or inflation returned to 2 percent more quickly than anticipated.

The S&P 500 edged up by 0.2 percent to reach a new record closing high, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite finished marginally higher and the Dow added 0.2 percent.

European stocks closed lower on Wednesday as investors assessed disappointing earnings updates, Trump's latest tariff threats, and a hotter-than-expected U.K. inflation print.

The pan European STOXX 600 fell 0.9 percent. The German DAX tumbled 1.8 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 1.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gave up 0.6 percent.