Indian Shares To Remain Volatile Ahead Of F&O Expiry

(RTTNews) - Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange indicate a flat start on Wednesday ahead of the expiration of December series derivative contracts. With the row over religious conversions disrupting proceedings on the last day of Winter Session of Parliament, the government could not take up major legislations like the insurance and coal bills on Tuesday.

Speculation is now rife that the government will adopt the ordinance route to pass the key bills that aim to increase foreign participation in the insurance sector and facilitate auctions of coal blocks de-allocated by the Supreme Court.

The benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty erased early gains to end down about 0.7 percent each on Tuesday as investors took some profits off the table following three sessions of sharp gains. With both the Houses of Parliament adjourning sine die and reforms in a limbo, concerns about Modi's ability to pass reforms kept investors in a cautious mood.

The Indian rupee fell three paise to close at 63.28 against the dollar due to persistent selling by foreign funds and fresh demand for the U.S. currency from state-owned banks and importers.

The finance ministry's chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian on Tuesday made a case for a rate cut by the Reserve Bank for India (RBI) to boost investments and help achieve the potential economic growth rate of 7-8 percent in the next few years.

Asian stocks followed Wall Street higher while crude prices retreated after rising to their highest level in more than a week yesterday. Japan's Nikkei index is rallying 1.1 percent as trading resumed after a public holiday on Tuesday.

Australia's All Ordinaries index is moving up 0.2 percent, Hong Kong shares are marginally higher, New Zealand's NZX-50 index is up 0.1 percent and South Korea's Kospi average is adding 0.4 percent, while China's Shanghai Composite is losing 1.6 percent.

U.S. stocks turned in a mixed performance overnight following the release of a mixed batch of economic data. The Dow rose 0.4 percent to close above 18,000 for the first time and the S&P 500 edged up 0.2 percent to set a fresh record closing high, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 0.3 percent.

In economic news, U.S. GDP grew at a robust 5.0 percent pace in the third quarter, the fastest in 11 years, and a measure of consumer sentiment increased in December to its highest level in nearly eight years, while durable goods orders and new home sales fell unexpectedly last month.

The European markets extended their 'Santa rally' into a sixth day on Tuesday, propelled by gains in U.S. equities as investors reacted to stellar U.S. growth figures. The German DAX rose 0.6 percent, France's CAC 40 advanced 1.4 percent and the FTSE 100 added 0.3 percent. Greek shares fell after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras failed to get the support needed to elect a new president in a second round of voting.