Mumbai: Indian equity markets are likely to be lower on Wednesday while trends in SGX Nifty suggest a weak opening for domestic benchmark indices. On Tuesday, the BSE Sensex rose 612.60 points or 1.24% to close at 50,193.33. The Nifty was up 184.95 points or 1.24% at 15,108.

Asian stocks tracked US declines Wednesday as concern about faster inflation shadowed the economic recovery from the pandemic. A dollar gauge ticked up from near the lowest level this year.

Shares fell in Japan, China and Australia after key US equity benchmarks closed lower. Markets are closed Wednesday in Hong Kong and South Korea for holidays.

A slide in crude on the possibility of more supply from Iran hurt energy stocks. Treasury yields were steady.

Stocks have been volatile after touching a record in early May, whipsawed by concerns about accelerating inflation amid elevated commodity prices, as well as a covid-19 resurgence in some countries. Federal Reserve officials have repeatedly indicated that they see recent price pressures as transitory and intend to keep policy accommodative for some time to come. Traders are awaiting the latest Fed minutes for the clues about the outlook.

The Fed publishes minutes from its April meeting Wednesday, which may provide clues to officials’ views on the recovery and how they define “transitory" when it comes to inflation.

Back home, Axis Bank will be in focus as the government is selling up to 58 million equity shares held in the bank through the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) at a floor price of Rs680, potentially fetching it close to Rs4,000 crore. The offer for sale will open on 19 May for non-retail investors and on 20 May for retail investors with an option to additionally sell 22 million equity shares, the bank said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday.

Tata Motors Ltd posted a consolidated loss of Rs7,585.34 crore in the March quarter, mainly because its UK unit Jaguar Land Rover wrote off investments worth Rs15,000 crore during the period. The figure is, however, narrower than the Rs9,863.75 crore loss a year ago as Tata Motors and JLR reported robust sales during the period.

Central Bank of India on Tuesday said its shareholders have approved allotment of preference shares to the government for a Rs4,800-crore capital infusion. At the virtual extraordinary general meeting (EGM), the state-owned bank's Chairman Tapan Ray said the preference share allotment to the government has been worked out at Rs17.11 per share.

Key companies that will announce March quarter results today are Indian Oil Corporation, IRFC, Indiabulls Housing Finance, JK Tyres & Industries, and Heritage Foods.

The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose one basis point to 1.65%. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 1% to $64.81 a barrel. Gold was at $1,868.19 an ounce