India Stocks: Indian shares to rise after Fed sticks to rate cut plan

Torrent Power

21/03/2024 02:27

BENGALURU, March 21 (Reuters) - Indian shares are set to
open higher on Thursday, tracking a global stocks rally after
the U.S. Federal Reserve maintained its projection of three rate
cuts this year.    
    The GIFT Nifty  GIFc1  was trading at 22,082 as of 7:54 a.m.
IST, indicating the Nifty 50  .NSEI  will open more than 200
points above Wednesday's close of 21,839.10.
    Wall Street indexes advanced overnight, after the Fed kept
rates unchanged as expected, and added the U.S. central bank
stayed on track for three interest rate cuts this year. 
    Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that recent hot inflation
readings had not changed the underlying story of slowly easing
price pressures and reiterated the central bank's earlier
forecast of soft landing for the world's largest economy.
    The comments aided expectations of a rate cut in June, the
odds of which rose to 77% from 59% a day ago, according to the
CME's FedWatch Tool.
    Asian markets opened higher on Thursday, with the MSCI Asia
ex-Japan index  .MIAPJ0000PUS  gaining 1.6%.
    India's shares had ended little changed on Wednesday. 
    U.S.-rate sensitive information technology sector  .NIFTYIT 
will be in focus, after falling for four straight sessions.
    Foreign portfolio investors sold Indian shares worth nearly
26 billion rupees (about $313 million) on a net basis on
Wednesday. Domestic institutional investors bought a net 26.68
billion rupees of stocks.
    
    STOCKS TO WATCH
    
    ** Wipro  WIPR.NS : Company appointed Anne-Marie Rowland as
chief executive of company's unit Capco, effective from April 1,
2024.
    ** Torrent Power  TOPO.NS : Company entered into a share
purchase agreement with Solapur Transmission to buy 100% stake
in a special purpose vehicle to establish transmission of power
from renewable energy projects in Maharashtra.
    ** Rail Vikas Nigam  RAIV.NS : Company emerged as the lowest
bidder for project worth 1.67 billion rupees. 

($1 = 83.0560 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by
Mrigank Dhaniwala)
 ((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))