Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty are likely to open higher on Thursday, with GIFT Nifty staging a sharp recovery from its overnight lows despite a selloff across global markets. Hotter-than-expected US inflation has strengthened expectations of further Federal Reserve interest-rate hikes, triggering heavy selling in technology stocks across Wall Street and Asia. Elevated crude oil prices and persistent foreign institutional selling, however, could limit gains in Indian equities.
GIFT Nifty was trading around 22,690, up 68 points, or 0.3 percent, from its previous close. The index has rebounded about 165 points from Wednesday evening's low of 22,525. Indian equities ended lower on Wednesday amid profit booking, with the Sensex falling 251.89 points, or 0.34 percent, to 72,781.89 and the Nifty declining 99.25 points, or 0.44 percent, to 22,622.70. Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth around Rs 1,857 crore, while domestic institutions bought shares worth Rs 2,670 crore.
Asian equities fell sharply on Thursday, extending the global selloff after stronger-than-expected US inflation raised concerns over further monetary tightening. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index plunged 2.7 percent, heading towards its lowest level since July. South Korea's Kospi led regional losses, crashing 7.6 percent, as semiconductor majors Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both fell more than 9 percent.
Japan's Nikkei 225 futures declined 4.8 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.9 percent and the Shanghai Composite lost 1.2 percent. US equity futures also remained under pressure, with Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.9 percent and S&P 500 futures falling 0.3 percent.
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