MUMBAI: Markets are likely to be volatile on Wednesday while trends in SGX Nifty indicate a mild opening of Indian benchmark indices. On Tuesday, the BSE Sensex ended at 58,279.48, down 17.43 points while the Nifty was at 17,362.10, down 15.70 points.

Asian shares hovered just off six-week highs on Wednesday, as a more risk-averse mood spread into the market from the United States overnight due to worries about slowing growth that hurt equities while helping the dollar firm.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.13% having posted gains, if sometimes small, for 11 of the last 12 sessions. Japan's Nikkei reversed early losses and was last 0.42% higher after revised gross domestic product growth figures beat expectations for the world's third-biggest economy. Most other moves were muted in early trading. Australia slipped 0.32%, Chinese blue chips fell 0.04%, and the Hong Kong benchmark gained 0.12%.

Medium-term prospects for the region also continue to weigh on shares in Asia. The MSCI regional benchmark is still well off all-time highs, unlike equity markets in the U.S. and Europe.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 fell 0.76% and 0.34% while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.07% to another record close as investors switched out of cyclicals into blue-chip tech stocks.

UK-based Cairn Energy PLC on Tuesday said it will drop litigations to seize Indian properties in countries ranging from France to the US, within a couple of days of getting a $1 billion refund resulting from the scrapping of a retrospective tax law.

HDFC Bank on Tuesday said it has signed a pact with the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) for providing credit support to the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector. Under this, the country's largest private sector bank will also provide MSMEs with a set of specially-tailored schemes to enhance their competitiveness.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories said it initiated supply of the first dose component of Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V to partner hospitals all over India. It also said that the Russian vaccine, which is administered in two doses with a 21-day gap, should be taken from the same hospital.

The settlement or transfer of ownership of stocks on exchanges can be cut to just one business day after the trade is executed starting next year, the markets regulator said. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) decided to allow stock exchanges the option to offer the faster T 1 trade cycle instead of the existing T 2 cycle from 1 January, conceding a long-running demand from retail investors.

The dollar held onto its overnight gains against a basket of its peers having risen from near a four week-low overnight alongside benchmark U.S. treasury yields.

Yields on 10-year Treasury notes dropped back in Asian hours and were last at 1.3570% compared to a U.S. close of 1.371% on Tuesday, after touching an eight-week high of 1.385?rlier in the day. Higher yields had hurt non-interest-bearing gold overnight, but the spot price gained 0.18% on Wednesday to $1798.03 per ounce, edging back towards $1800 having fallen below the level in the previous session.