BENGALURU: India’s benchmark Nifty 50 index is set for a muted start on Wednesday following a drop in Asian peers, while investors await key inflation readings from India and the US to assess interest rate outlook.

India’s GIFT Nifty was trading at 21,573 as of 8:18 a.m. IST, suggesting the NSE Nifty 50 will open near its close of 21,544.85 on Tuesday.

The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lost 0.35%, after logging losses in each of the six previous sessions.

Wall Street equities closed lower overnight.

The Nifty 50 and Sensex have shed about 1% each in seven sessions in 2024 so far, after a sharp rally in the last two months of the previous year.

“Sky-rocketing valuations are precluding any cheap entry into the markets,” said Aniruddh Madhusudan, analyst at Haitong International.

“Only banks and autos remain in line or at a discount to their long-term average valuations,” Madhusudan added.

Investors will keenly watch US consumer prices data, scheduled for release on Thursday and India’s retail inflation data, due on Friday.

India’s retail inflation likely rose to 5.87% in December from 5.55% in November on higher food prices, but stayed within the Reserve Bank of India’s target range for a fourth straight month, a Reuters poll of economists showed.

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The data is due on Friday post market hours.

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth 9.91 billion rupees ($119.24 million) on a net basis on Tuesday, while domestic investors bought a net 1.04 billion rupees of shares, according to exchange data.