BENGALURU: India’s Nifty 50 will likely open higher on Wednesday tracking gains in Asian peers, helped by bets of interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve, though market watchers expect some profit booking to continue.

India’s GIFT Nifty was trading at 21,550 as of 8:05 a.m. IST, suggesting the NSE Nifty 50 is set to open above its Tuesday’s close of 21,441.35.

The NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex rose for the third straight session on Tuesday, helped by energy and metals stocks.

Analysts, however, expect the market to consolidate in the last week of 2023 with some investors booking profits, though the equities are anticipated to end the year on a positive note.

The indexes have gained 6.5% each so far this month, respectively, helped by strong domestic macroeconomic data, a return of foreign inflows, and moderation in oil prices.

US stocks extended their rally overnight on expectations that the Federal Reserve will begin cutting interest rates as soon as March.

Metals, energy stocks power gains in Indian benchmarks

Most Asian stocks rose on Wednesday, with MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbing 0.65%.

Markets are pricing in a 70% chance of a 25 basis points rate cut from the Fed in March, according to the CME FedWatch tool, compared with a 21% chance at the end of November.