(RTTNews) - Indian shares may open on a cautious note Wednesday, with weak global cues, rising coronavirus cases in the country and concerns about economic recovery likely to weigh on sentiment.
A fresh surge of 60,975 new infections registered in the last 24 hours has taken India's coronavirus tally to 31,67,323 this morning, the Union Health Ministry said. The recovery rate stood at 75.91 percent.
The RBI said in its annual report for 2019-20 that private consumption in the country has lost its discretionary elements across the board and the economy will take "quite some time to mend and regain" the pre-Covid momentum.
Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty ended a choppy session largely unchanged on Tuesday in spite of positive global cues. The rupee closed steady amid suspected intervention by the RBI and forex inflows.
Asian markets are trading mostly lower this morning as investors await a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for cues on inflation and monetary policy.
Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that the world's second-biggest economy must be prepared for a period of "turbulent change" amid rising protectionism and supply chain disruption.
The dollar held steady against a basket of currencies and gold traded flat, while crude oil prices hit a five-month high after U.S. producers shut most offshore output in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Hurricane Laura.
U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as a gauge of U.S. consumer confidence dropped in August to the lowest since 2014 and China called a U.S. spy plane's flight through a no-fly zone a "naked provocation", further ratcheting up tensions between Beijing and Washington.
While the Dow eased 0.2 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8 percent and the S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to reach fresh record closing highs.
European stocks gave up early gains to end mostly lower on Tuesday despite impressive German data, positive news on the coronavirus front and signs of progress in U.S.-China trade negotiations.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 index shed 0.3 percent. The German DAX and France's CAC 40 index both ended the session nearly unchanged, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 lost 1.1 percent.
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