Indian Market Likely To Open Positive On Fed
Indian equities indices closed a range bound session on a weak note with benchmark indices losing 0.4% each ahead of Federal Reserve policy meeting outcome. The Sensex closed lower by 0.40%, or 114.26 points, at 28,622.12, while the Nifty shed 0.43%, or 37.40 points, to end at 8,685.90 points. However, the broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rising 0.3% each.
U.S. stocks rallied sharply after the Federal Reserve ruled out interest rate hikes at next month's meeting and said it had indicated a slower pace of rate hikes, following the removal of the word “patient” from its policy statement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 227.11 points, or 1.3%, at 18076.19, after earlier being down more than 100 points. The S&P 500 rose 25.22 points, or 1.2%, to 2099.50. The Nasdaq Composite added 45.39 points, or 0.9%, to 4982.83, earlier hitting 5000.
Oil fell below USD43 a barrel as WTI crude plunged 2.1% to USD42.56 in the New York Mercantile Exchange. The drop comes ahead of the release of the Energy Information Administration's weekly information on petroleum inventories.
European shares were mixed Wednesday. France's CAC 40 was down 0.1%. Germany's DAX slipped 0.5% and Britain's FTSE 100 added 1.6%. Stocks ended mostly lower Tuesday as investors waited for clues on when the central bank may begin raising rates.
Asian stocks rose except Japan, heading for a six-month high, taking cues from a strong rebound on Wall Street overnight as the Federal Reserve said data suggest U.S. economic growth has moderated and officials indicated interest rates will rise at a slower pace than previously forecast. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 1.76%. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index climbed 0.39% as data showed its economy grew at its fastest pace since 2007 last quarter from a year earlier. South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.5%. The Topix index slipped 0.7 percent to 1,571.35 as a stronger yen outweighs U.S. rates optimism. China's Shanghai Composite retreated from Wednesday's seven-year closing high of 3,577, seemingly on the back of profit-taking.
SGX Nifty is also trading in green and up by 91 points. Indian market may expect to open in green as the Federal Reserve’s signal that interest rates will rise slower than previously forecast.