FX.co ★ Sensex, Nifty Likely To Open On Cautious Note

Thursday's opening of the Indian stock market is expected to be cautious, following Wall Street's longest losing streak since January, due to escalating tensions in the Middle East and continuous uncertainty over potential rate cuts. However, losses might be capped as focus shifts towards corporate earnings and Israel's political offensive against Iran.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has increased its India's GDP growth forecast for FY24 by a significant 110 basis points (bps) to 7.8 percent. This positive change is attributed to the continuous strength of domestic demand and an increase in the working-age population.

On Wednesday, the Indian market was closed due to the Ram Navami holiday. Both the Sensex and Nifty, India's major stock indexes, had dropped about 0.6 percent each on Tuesday. This marked the third consecutive session of losses, and the rupee dropped to an all-time closing low of 83.54 against the dollar.

Asian markets had a mixed Day in range-bound trade, and the American dollar held its position after a drop on Wednesday. Gold saw a small rise in its price, while oil had its biggest decline in two months. This was due to bearish inventory data and the re-imposition of U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan crude oil.

Last night, U.S. stocks slipped as political tensions in the Middle East remained elevated, and expectations of multiple rate cuts this year were put to rest following comments from the Federal Reserve. The Dow declined by 0.1%, the S&P 500 by 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite by 1.2%, marking their fourth consecutive day of losses.

On Wednesday, European stocks made slight gains after a significant drop in the previous session. Despite having a positive bias, the pan-European STOXX 600 ended flat. The German DAX finished slightly higher, France's CAC 40 rose by 0.6% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 increased by 0.4%.