D-Street opens marginally higher tracking gains in global peers; Fed minutes in focus

Minutes from the 's most recent meeting are due later in the day, and will provide clues regarding the timing and extent of policy easing this year.

Meanwhile, uncertainty about the outcome of India's national elections and foreign selling has kept in a narrow range over the last few sessions. India's election results are due on June 4.

From the Sensex pack, , UltraTech Cement, HUL, NTPC, and Asian Paints opened with gains, while Sun Pharma, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, and SBI opened with cuts.

Reliance Industries shares rose nearly 2%, after the company said , a fully owned subsidiary of , has entered into a technology licensing agreement with it for electrolyser manufacturing in India.

On the sectoral front, rose 1.3%, led by gains in Lodha, Phoenix Mills, and Prestige Estates Projects. FMCG, Oil & Gas, IT, and PSU Bank sectors also opened higher, while Nifty Auto, Financial Services, and Private Bank sectors opened lower.

Experts Take
"One inference that can be drawn from institutional activity this month is that there is no excessive concern regarding the much talked about election results jitters. Net institutional selling is almost nil since the FII selling of Rs 37500 crores has been neutralised by DII buying of Rs 37369 crores so far this month," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

"It is important to understand that FII selling has been triggered by the outperformance of Chinese stocks which nudged FIIs to sell in expensive India and buy in cheap Hong Kong. Therefore, institutional activity does not reflect any election-related jitters," Vijayakumar added.

Deven Mehata, Research Analyst at Choice Broking, said, "Nifty can find support at 22,450 followed by 22,400 and 22,350. On the higher side, 22,600 can be an immediate resistance, followed by 22,650 and 22,700."

Global Markets
of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firmed 0.4%, having already climbed for four straight weeks to reach a two-year top.

Japan's eased 0.6% as data showed a weak yen was boosting exports but also stoking imported inflation and weighing on business sentiment.

Meanwhile, all three major U.S. indices advanced and the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq reached all-time closing highs overnight.

FII/DII Tracker
Foreign institutional investors extended their selling on May 21 as they sold Indian equities worth Rs 1,874.54 crore. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors bought Rs 3,548.97 crore worth of equities on the same day.

Oil Slips
Oil prices fell for a third straight session on Wednesday on expectations the Federal Reserve might keep U.S. interest rates higher for longer due to sustained inflation, potentially impacting fuel use in the world's largest oil consumer. Oil prices settled about 1% lower on Tuesday.

Brent crude futures were down 60 cents, or 0.7%, to $82.28 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures slipped 64 cents, or 0.8%, to $78.02 on Wednesday.

Rupee Rises
The Indian rupee rose 3 paise to 83.28 against the US dollar in early trade. The dollar index, which tracks the movement of the greenback against a basket of six major world currencies, declined 0.02% to 104.64 level.

(With inputs from agencies)
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)