Sensex, Nifty Likely To Open On Cautious Note

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening on a cautious note Friday, tracking mixed cues from global markets.

Overall losses, if any, may remain capped in the wake of eased U.S.-China tensions and strong earnings from Apple and Amazon.

After U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at an imminent agreement with India, Randhir Jaiswal, official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, clarified that discussions to conclude a trade deal are continuing.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has granted India six months' waiver from American sanctions on the Chabahar port project, crucial for trade.

In another development, "some Indian companies" have got approval from China to import rare earth magnets, to be used in automotive and electronics industries.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fell around 0.7 percent each on Thursday, after having closed near record highs in the previous session.

The rupee fell by 48 paise to close at 88.70 against the American currency amid hawkish Fed remarks, foreign fund outflows and month-end dollar demand from oil marketing companies.

Foreign investors net sold shares worth Rs 3,078 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors net bought shares to the tune of Rs. 2,469 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

Asian stocks were broadly higher this morning, with Chinese and Hong Kong markets bucking the uptrend.

Gold edged down slightly but was on track for a third straight monthly gain. The dollar held its ground after having reached a three-month high.

Oil prices fell and were on course for a third straight monthly decline on supply glut fears.

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended lower as investors showed little reaction to President Trump's announcement that he had struck a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping to trim tariffs in exchange for renewed promises from Beijing to crack down on fentanyl exports, resume U.S. soybean purchases and keep rare earths exports flowing.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 1.6 percent as shares of Meta and Microsoft fell sharply on worries over surging AI spending.

The S&P 500 lost 1 percent and the narrower Dow dipped 0.2 percent.

European stocks ended mixed on Thursday as investors digested the Fed, ECB and BoJ interest-rate decisions.

After keeping interest rates unchanged at 2 percent for the third meeting in a row, the European Central Bank repeated that policy was in a "good place".

The pan European Stoxx 600 closed flat with a negative bias. France's CAC 40 shed half a percent while the German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both ended on a flat note.