Sensex, Nifty Seen Marginally Higher At Open Before Election Results

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening flat to slightly higher on Tuesday as investors await results of the country's general election. Vote counting begins at 8 am and a clear trend should emerge by noon.

A summary of exit polls project the NDA could win between 355 and 380 seats in the 543-member lower house of parliament.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty jumped over 3 percent each on Monday to hit new record highs after many exit polls predicted a clean sweep for the BJP-led NDA in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

The rupee closed up nearly 0.4 percent at 83.1425 against the U.S. dollar, logging its best intraday percentage gain in more than five months after domestic GDP growth data for the fourth quarter of FY24 surpassed all expectations.

Asian markets traded slightly lower this morning and gold edged lower while the dollar languished at its lowest since April against the euro and sterling.

Oil extended losses after having fallen more than 3 percent to a 4-month low on Monday, weighed down by an announcement by OPEC+ that the group will begin phasing out voluntary production cuts over the next one year.

U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight, Treasury yields dipped, and the dollar hit a three-week low as soft factory activity and construction spending data added to signs the U.S. economy is gradually slowing down.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6 percent as Nvidia announced its next generation of Artificial Intelligence chips. The S&P 500 inched up 0.1 percent while the Dow dipped 0.3 percent.

European stocks ended broadly higher on Monday amid bets that the ECB will deliver its first interest-rate cut of the cycle on Thursday.

The pan European STOXX 600 edged up 0.3 percent. The German DAX rose 0.6 percent and France's CAC 40 finished marginally higher while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slipped 0.2 percent.