Sensex, Nifty may open flat with a negative bias

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Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could fall 8 points at the opening bell. Meanwhile, citing faster-than-expected recovery, rising consumer confidence and the resultant spending spike, Swiss brokerage UBS Securities has revised upwards its growth forecast for the current fiscal to 9.5% from 8.9% in September. The brokerage also sees the economy clipping at 7.7% in FY23 but moderating to 6% in FY24, as it expects the benefit of the low-interest rate regime to end by the end of FY23, and it sees the central bank hiking policy rates by 50 bps in the second half of the next fiscal.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading mixed on Thursday, following overnight losses on Wall Street.

U.S. stocks took a dip on Wednesday as investors weighed a continuation of strong earnings reports from big-box retailers against lingering inflation concerns.

Domestic markets

Back home, the domestic equity barometers ended with modest losses on Wednesday. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, lost 314.04 points or 0.52% to 60,008.33. The Nifty 50 index fell 100.55 points or 0.56% to 17,898.65.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 344.35 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 61.14 crore in the Indian equity market on 17 November, provisional data showed.