BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares opened lower, led by declines in metal and tech stocks and data showing strength in the U.S. economy that raised fears the Federal Reserve might stick longer with aggressive interest rate hikes.
The S&P BSE Sensex opened 0.43% down at 62,558.44, as of 9:19 a.m. IST. The NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.46% to 18,618.35.
All the major sectoral indexes declined, with Nifty Metal, Nifty IT losing 0.75% and 0.96%, respectively.
The losses were partly stemmed by a pick up in Nifty PSU Bank index, the top sectoral gainer that climbed 0.39%, after a Morgan Stanley report said that public sector banks would continue their strong performance on the back of higher margins.
Indian markets will now focus on the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy decision. The central bank is expected to raise interest rates by a smaller 35 basis points to 6.25%.
The U.S. services activity unexpectedly picked up in November, following a robust U.S. payrolls and wage growth data, challenging hopes that the Fed might slow the pace and intensity of its rate hikes amid recent signs of cooling inflation.
Wall Street slid after the data, and Asian shares declined in early Tuesday trading, with the MSCI Asia ex Japan index falling 0.87%. [MKTS/GLOB]
($1 = 81.8900 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Akansha Victor in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
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