Indian Shares Seen Tad Higher At Open On Softer U.S. Inflation Data

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open a tad higher on Thursday after the annual rates for both U.S. headline and core inflation eased slightly from June, prompting bets the Federal Reserve would leave its policy rate unchanged at its September meeting.

Closer home, India's consumer price inflation rose slightly to 4.45 percent in July from 4.38 percent in June, led by higher food prices, official data showed on Wednesday. The annual rate was marginally below economists' forecast of 4.50 percent.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty recouped some early losses to end down around 0.2 percent each on Wednesday while the rupee settled 3 paise higher at 95.33 against the dollar, drawing support from RBI's dollar sales.

FIIs net sold shares worth Rs. 1,002.50 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors net bought shares worth Rs. 5,841.66 crore, according to provisional data on exchanges.

Asian markets were broadly higher this morning as technology shares extended gains on renewed optimism over artificial-intelligence spending.

The dollar index held steady and U.S. Treasury yields edged up slightly while gold was little changed at $4,410 an ounce ahead of the release of U.S. producer price index later today and readings on retail sales and consumer sentiment due on Friday.

Brent crude futures fell more than 1 percent below $88 a barrel, snapping a six-day advance after EIA data showed a massive increase in U.S. oil inventories last week and U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated that the United States is in control of the Strait of Hormuz and there is nothing Iran can do about it.

Meanwhile, after reports emerged that the United States and Iran have agreed to extend a 60-day ceasefire brokered by Pakistan, a senior Iranian official reportedly said there had been no progress in talks to revive a June interim agreement and define a time frame to implement it.

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended mixed as benign consumer-inflation data and strong quarterly results and forecasts from CoreWeave and Super Micro Computer offset concerns over stalled U.S.-Iran negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Data showed consumer prices inched up 0.1 percent month-on-month and 3.4 percent annually in July, matching expectations. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.2 percent on a monthly basis and 2.5 percent year-on-year.

While the Dow finished marginally lower, the S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained half a percent.

European stocks eased from record highs on Wednesday as fresh attacks on shipping in the Middle East raised concerns over further supply disruptions.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.2 percent. The German DAX dipped 0.2 percent, France's CAC 40 shed half a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slid 0.1 percent.