Sensex, Nifty Likely To Open Lower

The Indian markets are likely to open in the negative, in line with Asian counterparts, after a gloomy economic projections from the US Federal Reserve dragged the Wall Street lower by around a per cent. Trends on SGX Nifty also indicate a negative opening for the indices back home; At 8:15 am, the Nifty futures were trading 39.40 points or 0.39 per cent lower at 10,103 on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

Asian stocks were set to fall on Thursday after gloomy economic projections from the US Federal Reserve sent the greenback and most Wall Street shares lower. Australian S&P/ASX 200 futures were down 1.08 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei 225 futures fell 1.2 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures were 0.31 per cent lower.

The Dow and S&P 500 ended a choppy session lower on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve reassured investors of its support for the economy but projected a 6.5 per cent decline in gross domestic product this year. The Dow Jones fell 1.04 per cent and S&P 500 lost 0.53 per cent, Nasdaq Composite, however, added 0.67 per cent.

Meanwhile, oil prices fell in early trade on Thursday on worries about slow demand growth with coronavirus cases rising, US crude stockpiles hitting an all-time high and the US Federal Reserve projecting recovery from the pandemic would take years.

Brent crude futures fell 2.0 per cent, or 85 cents, to $40.88 a barrel, also giving up gains from Wednesday. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures erased gains from Wednesday, falling as low as $38.42 a barrel. The benchmark contract was down 2.2 per cent, or 86 cents, at $38.74 at 0031 GMT.

On the economy front, credit rating agency Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday that the Indian economy is likely to bounce back with a sharp growth rate of 9.5 per cent next year, after the contraction in the current financial year, if it manages to avoid further deterioration in the financial sector,

On the same day, credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) retained India's sovereign rating at "BBB-" - the lowest investment-grade level - with a stable outlook and promised to upgrade the country's ratings if the government significantly curtailed its fiscal deficit.