SENSEX EYEA A SUBDUED OPENING ON WEDNESDAY AMID MIXED GLOBAL CUES

• India’s Sensex is likely to open flat after closing Tuesday in the green below 74,000.
• Sensex swung between gains and losses on Tuesday, as markets stayed cautious ahead of India/ US CPI data.
• For February, US CPI came in hotter-than-expected at 3.2% YoY; India’s inflation stayed flat at 5.09% YoY.

The Sensex 30, one of India’s key benchmark indices, is expected to open flat to marginally lower after settling in positive territory on Tuesday.

The muted trading in the Gift Nifty futures combined with mixed Asian stock markets indicate a cautious start to Sensex, as traders take account of the key inflation data released from India and the US.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex 30 is up 0.22% on the day at 73,667.96.

Stock market news

• The top gainers on Sensex on Tuesday were HDFC Bank, TCS, Reliance Industries, Maruti Suzuki and Infosys. Meanwhile, the top losers include ITC, JSW Steel, NTPC, Nestle and SBI Bank.
• FMCG and metals sectors stocks were a drag on Sensex but the rally in the technology stocks came to the rescue of buyers.
• Shares of Zomato rose as much as 2.0% on a strong ad revenue forecast.
• Shares of steel-related companies in Asia dropped, following iron ore’s biggest slide since 2022. Dalian iron ore hits five-month low on weak sentiment amid subdued demand in top consumer China.
• British American Tobacco (BAT) is reportedly gearing up for a much-anticipated sale of its stake in ITC within the next fortnight, according to two individuals familiar with the development. ITC shares slide over 2.0%.
• China’s state-backed developer Vanke Co. declined after Moody’s Ratings stripped the company’s investment-grade credit rating and warned of potential further cuts.
• Wipro expanded its partnership with Nutanix to launch a new Nutanix-focused business unit.
• India’s headline CPI retail inflation came in at 5.09% in February compared to the 5.1% print for January. Meanwhile, the country’s Industrial Production stayed unchanged at 3.8% in January, missing the estimates of 4.1%.
• The US stock markets rebounded firmly on Tuesday, as a mixed US Consumer Price Index (CPI) report failed to have any impact on the June Fed rate cut expectations.
• The US CPI rose 3.2%  in February from a year ago, beating the market forecast of 3.1%. The monthly CPI increased 0.4% in the same period. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased 0.4% from the last month and 3.8% over the year.
• Markets continue to price in about a 70% chance that the Fed could begin easing rates in June, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
• Attention now turns toward the US Retail Sales and consumer sentiment data due later this week