off-the-wire

INDIA STOCKS-Indian shares set to fall on rate fears after Powell's testimony

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
By Bharath Rajeswaran BENGALURU, March 8 (Reuters) - Indian shares are set to open lower on Wednesday, tracking a slide in global equities after U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell reiterated the likelihood of aggressive rate hikes to tackle inflation. India's NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were down 0.74% at 17,721.50, as of 7:43 a.m. IST. All three major Wall Street indexes fell more than 1% on Tuesday after Powell's testimony before the U.S. Congress. The semi-annual, two-day monetary policy testimony will continue on Wednesday. Powell said the strong economic data raised the possibility of prolonged and higher-than-expected interest rate hikes.


The expectations of a 50 basis point (bps) increase in the federal funds target rate at the upcoming meeting have now risen above 70%. Asian markets too declined on Wednesday, with the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan losing 1.38%. Indian shares had extended gains for a second session in a row on Monday, as investment in the Adani group of companies lifted sentiment. Markets were closed on Tuesday.


Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought a net 7.21 billion Indian rupees worth of equities on Monday, extending their buying streak for the third session in a row.




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($1 = 81.6800 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

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