Sensex, Nifty May Follow Global Peers Higher

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may open higher on Friday, tracking firm cues from global markets.

Earnings would be in focus, with Axis Bank reporting a net loss of Rs 5,728.4 crore for the fourth quarter ended March due to the Citi acquisition.

Tech Mahindra's quarterly profit fell 26 percent and ACC reported a 40 percent fall in Q4 consolidated profit while Wipro announced a Rs. 12,000 crore share buyback after posting a mixed performance in terms of profitability for Q4.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty jumped around 0.6 percent each on Thursday to extend recent gains, with upbeat earnings results from U.S. tech companies, falling oil prices and short covering on the last day of the April series derivative contracts offering support.

The rupee gave up early gains to settle lower by 10 paise at 81.84 against the dollar.

Asian markets were broadly higher ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy meeting later today and the Fed and ECB meetings, due next week.

The dollar headed for a monthly loss while Treasury yields resumed their climb, denting bullion's appeal. Oil prices were on course for a second weekly drop on recession fears.

U.S. stock futures fell slightly as investors react to the latest earnings results unveiled after the closing bell.

Amazon beat earnings expectations in Q1 but signaled that cloud growth would slow further. Intel said gross margins will improve in the second half of the year.

Capital One posted worse-than-feared quarterly profit while Snap's first quarter revenue missed estimates.

U.S. stocks rallied overnight as Facebook parent Meta, Comcast and Honeywell delivered strong first-quarter results and weaker-than-expected GDP data suggested the Fed might end rate hikes in the near term.

U.S. GDP grew 1.1 percent in the first three months of 2023 after expanding by 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2022, the government said in its advance estimate.

The quarterly inflation number within the GDP report came in higher than expected and jobless claims unexpectedly declined in the week ended April 22, underpinning rate hike expectations for next week's FOMC meeting.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite soared 2.4 percent to log its best single-day gain since March while the Dow climbed 1.6 percent and the S&P 500 added 2 percent to register their biggest gains since January.

European stocks ended a choppy session mostly higher on Thursday as strong earnings updates offset lingering concerns around the U.S. banking sector.

The pan European STOXX 600 gained 0.2 percent. The German DAX finished marginally higher and France's CAC 40 edged up 0.2 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 eased 0.3 percent.