Indian Shares Set To Open Lower On Weak Global Cues

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are likely to open lower on Monday, tracking weak cues from global markets as investors reduced exposure to tech stocks on doubts over the AI rally.

Continued foreign investor selling on the back of a weakening rupee and ongoing uncertainty around U.S.-India trade negotiations may also keep investors on edge.

Last week, Inda's chief economic adviser V Anantha Nageswaran called the India-U.S. trade deal "elusive", adding he would be "surprised" if the pact is not sealed by March.

Asian markets were mostly lower after China Vanke failed to get approval from bondholders to extend repayment obligation by one year for an onshore bond, raising fresh concerns over credit risk in the country's property sector.

The dollar nursed losses in Asian trade as focus shifted to upcoming economic data and interest-rate decisions from a slew of central banks, including ECB, BOJ, BOE, Riksbank and Norges Bank.

Key U.S. data due this week includes reports on employment, consumer price inflation and retail sales. China house price and activity data for November are due for release later in the day.

Oil edged higher after Imperial Oil issued a fire alert at its 120000 barrel-per-day refinery facility in Ontario, Canada, and Ukrainian forces targeted the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region, causing significant damage.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said "a lot of progress was made" at talks on Sunday in Berlin to end the Ukraine war.

Gold traded higher for a fifth day running amid the prospect of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve next year.

U.S. stocks ended deep in the red on Friday as investors continued to book profits from high-flying names linked to the artificial intelligence trade on valuation concerns.

Higher Treasury yields also dented sentiment after Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee said he is uneasy about "too heavily front-loading rate cuts and just assuming that inflation will be transitory."

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 1.7 percent amid a broader rotation from tech to value names. The S&P 500 lost 1.1 percent and the Dow dipped half a percent.

European stocks ended lower on Friday, failing to hold on to early gains after warnings by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte that Europe must be prepared for war with Russia.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 gave up half a percent. The German DAX dropped half a percent, France's CAC 40 eased 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.6 percent.