Indian shares are seen opening slightly lower on Thursday, mirroring a mixed trend across Asia as investors await Federal Reserve decision. Many analysts expect the Fed to announce a third round of quantitative easing later today, but traders are somewhat reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the actual announcement.
Chinese shares are edging down 0.2 percent after the official Xinhua News Agency said massive stimulus measures, similar to the stimulus package rolled out in 2008, would be "detrimental" to the country's sustainable growth. Australia's All Ordinaries index is down 0.3 percent and key benchmark indexes in New Zealand and Singapore are moving down 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, while Japan's Nikkei index is rising half a percent and South Korea's Kospi average is gaining 0.2 percent.
Closer home, August inflation data due to be released tomorrow will provide further clues on whether the Reserve Bank of India will cut policy rates in the short term. Expressing disappointment over the industrial output numbers released yesterday, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the government is actively engaged with the industry on ways to boost investment.
Indian shares extended gains for a sixth day on Wednesday, as firm global cues outweighed government data showing anemic pace of expansion in industrial output. The benchmark BSE Sensex ended the session up 147 points or 0.82 percent at 18,000, its highest level in almost seven months, while the broader Nifty index rose by 41 points or 0.76 percent to 5,431.
Provisional data released by BSE shows that foreign institutional investors continued to remain net buyers in Indian equities and bought shares worth Rs.451.19 crore yesterday, while domestic financial institutions offloaded shares to the extent of Rs.55.76 crore.
Corporate News
Private sector lenders ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Axis Bank have cut interest rates on retail fixed deposits by up to 50 basis points across various maturities.
Coal India said it has earmarked additional Rs.14,500 crore capital expenditure to augment rail infrastructure during the 12th Five Year Plan period that started on April 1, 2012.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs meet on Friday is likely to consider the proposal of disinvestment in five major public sector undertakings, including Hindustan Copper, Oil India and Nalco, the Economic Times reported.
U.S. And European Markets
U.S. stocks ended mostly higher overnight, with continued uncertainty on whether the Fed will act to help the economy limiting further upside for the markets. The Dow edged up 0.1 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 edged up 0.2 percent, helped by the favorable German Court ruling on the legality of the euro-zone bailout fund.
Germany's Federal Constitutional Court cleared the way for the ratification of the European Stability Mechanism, rejecting temporary injunctions against the European bailout fund. Imposing certain conditions, the court said Germany must cap its bailout fund liability at 190 billion euros and said further expansion of the country's share needs Parliament's approval.
European stocks turned in a mixed performance as investors preferred to take some profits off the table prior to Fed meeting. France's CAC 40 rose 0.2 percent and the German DAX added half a percent, while Switzerland's SMI and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 slid about 0.2 percent each.
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Market Analysis
June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.