Sensex, Nifty To Open On Muted Note

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open on a flat note Monday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. central bank is "well positioned to wait for greater clarity" about the impact of President Trump's policy changes.

Trump on Friday reiterated that India charges "massive tariffs" and said that you can't sell anything in the country.

"India charges us massive tariffs. Massive. You can't even sell anything in India... They have agreed, by the way, they want to cut their tariffs way down now because somebody is finally exposing them for what they have done," he told reporters at the White House.

Market experts remain cautiously optimistic on the outlook following last week's recovery. It's going to be a truncated week, with markets likely to remain closed on Friday, March 14, on account of Holi.

Asian stocks traded mixed this morning, with mainland Chinese and Hong Kong markets slipping into the red as China announced retaliatory tariffs on Canadian agricultural imports.

The dollar index was down slightly after Trump declined in an interview aired Sunday to rule out the possibility that the United States might enter a recession this year.

"There is a period of transition, because what we're doing is very big -- we're bringing wealth back to America," he said, adding, "It takes a little time."

But Trump's commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, was more definitive and said "absolutely not" when asked whether Americans should brace for a downturn.

Gold was little changed above $2,900 per ounce in Asian trade while oil prices hovered near a six-month low on demand concerns.

China's consumer inflation fell into negative territory for the first time in 13 months, highlighting persistent deflationary pressures in the world's biggest crude importer.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday but posted steep losses for the week on tariff-related concerns and fears the U.S. economy is heading toward a recession.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.7 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent and the narrower Dow added half a percent after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that the U.S. labor market remains solid, and inflation is headed toward the Fed's goal of 2 percent per year.

Echoing concerns about President Trump's policies, Powell said the Fed is in no hurry to adjust rates and remains "focused on separating the signal from the noise."

Meanwhile, data showed non-farm payroll employment climbed by 151,000 jobs in February after rising by a downwardly revised 125,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate edged up to 4.1 percent.

European stocks drifted lower on Friday amid much uncertainty over interest rates, U.S. tariffs and prospects for peace in Ukraine. The pan European STOXX 600 dropped half a percent. The German DAX lost 1.8 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished marginally lower.