Indian Shares Seen Higher At Open As Oil Extends Slide

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open higher on Thursday despite mixed cues from global markets. Global crude oil prices continued to decline following the U.S.-Iran truce, helping ease concerns over imported inflationary pressure.

On the flip side, a stronger dollar in international markets, higher U.S. Treasury yields and FII selling may weigh on markets as the session progresses.

S&P Global Ratings on Wednesday forecast India's GDP growth to slow to 6.6 percent in 2026-27, citing energy stress, expectations of a below-normal monsoon and weakening global growth.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty surged by 1 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively on Wednesday, with financials and technology stocks leading the surge after global oil prices fell to their lowest level in four months amid indications that more tankers stranded in the Gulf since the start of the Iran war were beginning to move through the Strait of Hormuz.

The rupee settled 11 paise higher at 94.65 against the dollar on growing optimism around a potential U.S.-India bilateral trade agreement and comments from RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra suggesting that discussion on interest rate hikes was premature.

Foreign institutional investors net sold shares worth Rs 1,843 crore on Wednesday, while domestic financial institutions net bought shares to the extent of Rs. 3,637 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

Asian markets were mixed this morning, with technology stocks rallying in South Korea and Japan as robust earnings as well as bullish forecasts from Micron and Qualcomm helped ease concerns over AI demand, elevated valuations and the sustainability of the artificial-intelligence trade that has pushed global stocks to record highs.

The dollar index headed toward its sharpest monthly gain in almost a year as markets priced in a Federal Reserve rate hike by the end of December.

Gold extended losses to trade below $3,970 an ounce, hovering near its lowest since November after having fallen below $4,000 an ounce for the first time in 2026 overnight.

Oil prices extended their decline, with Brent crude futures falling nearly 2 percent below $73 a barrel in Asian trading - extending losses for a fourth consecutive session as tanker movement through the Strait of Hormuz picked up.

U.S. stocks gave up early gains to end mixed overnight as investors continued to rotate out of high-flying technology and artificial intelligence stocks into other beaten-down sectors.

Traders also digested disappointing data that showed U.S. new home sales unexpectedly fell in May for the second straight month.

While the Dow rose 0.4 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 slid 0.1 percent on lingering inflation and rate hike concerns.

European stocks also ended mixed on Wednesday after a cautious session amid signs of disagreements between Washinton and Tehran over a few key terms of their peace pact.

The pan-European STOXX 600 edged up by 0.1 percent. The German DAX fell 0.6 percent, dragged down by defense stocks. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.3 percent and France's CAC 40 gained half a percent.