Dalal Street is poised to rebound from Tuesday’s modest losses, with the Sensex likely to witness a positive opening on Wednesday as rising bets of an interest rate cut next month continue to support investor sentiment. However, worries over the Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) and progress over key reforms such as the land acquisition bill and the Goods & Services Tax (GST) currently stuck in Parliament may hinder participation from foreign investors, which have been in sell-off mode in some of the past few sessions, curbing gains at Dalal Street. On Tuesday, the Sensex snapped a two-day winning streak, retreating by 42 points or 0.15 per cent to finish at 27,645.53 as traders indulged in profit booking at existing levels. Shares of realty major DLF and Tata Steel will be in focus today as the two companies unveil their March quarter earnings. Strength in the SGX CNX Nifty Index futures for May delivery which rose 0.30 per cent to 8,384.25 at 08:18 am, signals a gap up opening at Dalal Street on Wednesday. Supportive cues from most Asian markets which were trading higher despite a mixed finish at Wall Street overnight, as jitters over Greece eased with a deal with international creditors expected next week, will offer support to domestic benchmarks. Further, better than expected US housing data eased concerns over a slowdown in the world’s biggest economy, powering the lure for risky assets. US housing starts surged to the highest level in more than seven years, up 20.2 per cent to a 1.14 million annual rate in April 2015. Focus of traders across the globe will be on the release of the US Federal Reserve’s minutes from its latest monetary policy meet later today, which may offer some cues over when the world’s top central bank plans to raise interest rates for the first time since 2006. Recent weakness in the US economy has pushed back bets of an initial rate lift-off. On the Asian front, Shanghai Composite rose despite a flood of new share sales, Hang Seng was trading in the red but Japanese stocks were boosted by a weaker yen which bolstered the appeal of exporter stocks.
