Indian shares set for muted open; Fed meeting in focus

Indian shares will likely open little changed on Tuesday amid caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s December 18 meeting, being closely watched for cues about its future rate cut trajectory.

The Gift Nifty futures were trading at 24,667, as of 8:08 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 will open near Monday’s close of 24,668.25.

The benchmark Nifty and BSE Sensex on Monday lost 0.4 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively, dragged down by losses in IT stocks and metals, after notching the longest weekly winning run since July in the last week.

In the last session, foreign and domestic investors net sold Indian stocks worth ₹2.79 billion (nearly $33 million) and ₹2.34 billion respectively, exchange data showed.

It is a near given that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, with the odds at 97 per cent, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Investors are bracing for clues into the Fed’s 2025 rate cut path, which has become less certain in light of the recent US data that showed sticky inflation in a relatively robust economy.

The odds of a January cut are nearly 17 per cent, while the bets of a January rate-cut pause are at 81 per cent, the FedWatch tool showed.

Asian peers outside Japan edged higher on the day, while megacap tech shares muscled Wall Street equities to higher closes overnight.

Stocks to watch

Vedanta: Miner approved a fourth interim dividend of ₹8.5 per share, totalling ₹33.24 billion.

GMR Airports: Airports operator said November aircraft movements rose 8 per cent year-on-year.

HDFC Bank: Private bank received a warning letter from the country’s markets regulator alleging its disclosures regarding the resignation of a senior employee were non-compliant with certain provisions. ($1 = 84.8820 Indian rupees) (