Indian shares will likely open little changed on Tuesday amid caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s Dec. 18 meeting, being closely watched for cues about its future rate cut trajectory.

The Gift Nifty futures were trading at 24,667, as of 8:08 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 will open near Monday’s close of 24,668.25.

The benchmark Nifty and BSE Sensex on Monday lost 0.4% and 0.5% respectively, dragged down by losses in IT stocks and metals, after notching the longest weekly winning run since July in the last week.

In the last session, foreign and domestic investors net sold Indian stocks worth 2.79 billion rupees (nearly $33 million) and 2.34 billion rupees respectively, exchange data showed.

It is a near given that the Fed will cut rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, with the odds at 97%, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Indian equity benchmarks slip as Fed rate trajectory worries hit IT stocks

Investors are bracing for clues into the Fed’s 2025 rate cut path, which has become less certain in light of the recent US data that showed sticky inflation in a relatively robust economy.

The odds of a January cut are nearly 17%, while the bets of a January rate-cut pause are at 81%, the FedWatch tool showed.

Asian peers outside Japan edged higher on the day, while megacap tech shares muscled Wall Street equities to higher closes overnight.