FX.co ★ Sensex, Nifty Seen Opening Lower On Hawkish Powell's Comments

Indian stock markets are predicted to open cautiously on Monday following US Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell's interview on Sunday. He indicated that policymakers are likely to procrastinate interest rate cuts beyond March.

In local news, the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee convenes on Thursday. The predictions speculate that the bank will hold the rates for the sixth consecutive time.

Shares in State Bank of India may experience a decline as Q3 profits reported by the state-run lender did not meet expectations. As for Paytm, the company has dismissed reports that allege they may be subject to an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate concerning money laundering charges through Paytm Payments Bank.

Despite China's securities regulator's commitment to stabilize the crashing equity markets, Asian markets were broadly on a low this morning. The China Securities Regulatory Commission has announced plans to direct more medium and long-term funds into the market to prevent irregular fluctuations.

Elsewhere, former US President Donald Trump has hinted at the possibility of imposing a tariff of more than 60% on Chinese goods if he returns to power.

Simultaneously, gold prices experienced a downturn as the US dollar bolstered against its primary rivals, and US Treasuries continued to fall following the release of positive US labour market statistics.

US stocks, on the other hand, rallied on Friday due to encouraging earnings reports from Amazon and Meta Platforms as well as strong January employment data. This data revealed that the US economy added 353,000 jobs in January, far exceeding the approximate prediction of 180,000 jobs.

Furthermore, December's job growth was revised upwards, and unemployment rates remained stagnant at 3.7% in January. These developments led investors to recalibrate their expectations for interest rate cuts this year.

Resultantly, the Dow Jones rose by 0.4%, and the S&P 500 gained 1.1%, both reaching new record closing highs, while the Nasdaq Composite saw a higher leap of 1.7%. However, European stocks gave mixed results on Friday due to fading rate cut optimism. The pan-European STOXX 600 ended flat, though Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 rose modestly. In contrast, the United Kingdom's FTSE 100 closed negative.