Nifty’s opening cues following U.S. Fed decision and hawkish projection

By Malvika Gurung

Investing.com -- The Nifty 50 futures listed on the Singapore-based exchange SGX, an early indicator for Nifty 50, traded 0.1% or 19.5 points lower at 8:58 am on Thursday, indicating a marginally lower to flat opening on Dalal Street.

Further, the Dow Jones futures and Nasdaq 100 futures traded flat.

Major US indices ended mixed on Wednesday after the US Fed kept interest rates steady but extended hawkish indications that there could be two more hikes ahead as inflation continues to run above target, likely by 0.5% by the end of 2023.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) left the benchmark rate unchanged at 5-5.25%.

Nasdaq Composite rose 0.39%, Dow Jones fell 0.68%, and S&P 500 closed flat.

Asian shares were mostly up on Thursday after the Federal Reserve left the benchmark interest rate unchanged for the first time in 17 months.

At 23:30 ET (03:30 GMT), Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.34%, South Korea’s KOSPI dipped 0.28%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged 0.72%, China’s Shanghai Composite traded flat and Australia’s ASX 200 rose 0.26%.

Oil prices declined slightly on Thursday, as major importer China enacted more interest rate cuts amid worsening economic conditions, while markets continued to digest mixed signals from the Fed, an Investing.com report noted.

Brent crude dipped 0.2% to $73.06/barrel and WTI futures traded at $68.15 a barrel. Natural Gas futures fell 1.11%.