Sensex, Nifty May Follow Global Peers Higher; TCS Results Eyed

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open on a positive note Thursday, though volatility cannot be ruled out due to lingering Middle East tensions and ahead of key U.S. consumer and producer price inflation readings due this week.

Tata Group stocks could be in focus after veteran industrialist and Group's chairman emeritus Ratan Tata passed away at a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday night.

India's largest IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is set to declare its financial results today, with analysts expecting Q2 earnings growth to be in low single digit.

Defense-related stocks may also see increased activity after the Cabinet Committee on Security cleared major deals worth Rs 80,000 with the U.S. which would see India boost its surveillance capabilities of its defense forces.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty gave up early gains to end marginally lower on Wednesday after RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das warned of significant risks to inflation. The rupee ended up by 1 paise at 83.96 against the dollar.

Asian markets followed Wall Street higher this morning in the run-up to the crucial U.S. CPI report later in the day that might decide the size of the next rate cut by the U.S. central bank.

The dollar hovered near a two-month peak and gold held steady close to $2,600 levels, while oil prices were up around half a percent in Asian trading due to supply concerns in the Middle East and higher fuel demand due to a major storm in Florida.

Media reports suggest that U.S. President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed Israel's expected military retaliation against Iran in their first call in over a month Wednesday.

U.S. stocks climbed overnight as minutes from the Fed's September meeting showed a "substantial majority" of Fed officials at the meeting favored the larger half-point rate cut, but were divided over the economic outlook, and are in no rush for another half-point cut.

The Dow and S&P 500 rose 1 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively to close at record levels while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6 percent.

European stocks closed higher on Wednesday ahead of the release of Fed meeting minutes and amid hopes that the Chinese government will announce more fiscal stimulus at a Saturday briefing on fiscal policy.

The pan European STOXX 600 climbed 0.7 percent. The German DAX rallied 1 percent, France's CAC 40 added half a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced 0.7 percent.