Indian shares are set to open lower on Wednesday as investors react to a slew of negative news flow.
India's total tally of Covid-19 cases crossed the 2-crore mark with over 3.5 lakh infections reported in a day on Tuesday.
Global brokerage firm Barclays has cut down its forecast for India's GDP down to 10 percent from its earlier 11 percent and warned that the lockdowns due to the second wave of COVID will cost India $38.4 billion if they continue until June.
Investment bank Goldman Sachs has lowered its estimate for India's economic growth to 11.1 percent in fiscal year to March 31, 2022 from 11.7 percent previously, and 2021 calendar year growth forecast to 9.7 percent from 10.5 percent.
India's unemployment rate touched a four-month high in April as job losses increased sharply due to localized curbs imposed by states, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty fell about 1 percent on Tuesday while the rupee rose by 10 paise to settle at 73.85 against the U.S. dollar, extending gains for the second consecutive session.
Asian markets remain mostly lower this morning while the dollar traded firm amid talk of rising U.S. interest rates.
Oil prices rose nearly 1 percent to extend overnight gains after industry data showed U.S. crude stockpiles fell much more than expected last week.
U.S. stocks fell broadly overnight after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen suggested interest rates may have to rise modestly to prevent the economy from overheating amid the recent spike in government spending.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell as much as 1.9 percent and the S&P 500 shed 0.7 percent while the Dow reversed an early slide to finish marginally higher.
European stocks tumbled on Tuesday amid inflation concerns and worries about valuations as coronavirus cases continued to surge in several countries.
The pan European Stoxx 600 lost 1.4 percent. The German DAX plummeted 2.5 percent, while France's CAC 40 index gave up 0.9 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dropped 0.7 percent.
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