Sensex, Nifty Seen Flat To Lower As Investors Await Powell's Jackson Hole Speech

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open on a tepid note Friday, tracking mixed cues from global markets as investors await Fed Chair Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole speech later in the day for greater clarity on the upcoming policy action by the U.S. central bank.

Meanwhile, the monthly economic review for July released by the Finance Ministry noted that India's economic momentum remained strong in the first four months of fiscal 2025 despite a somewhat erratic monsoon, with the projected real GDP growth of 6.5-7 percent.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended up around 0.2 percent each on Thursday, giving up some early gains. The rupee fell 4 paise to close at 83.94 against the dollar due to import demand.

Asian markets were mostly lower this morning, Treasury yields eased a little, the dollar rebounded from one-year lows and gold was set for a weekly loss, while oil prices traded flat and were down nearly 3 percent for the week on China demand concerns.

U.S. stocks ended lower overnight as a rise in Treasury yields prompted traders to book some profits after recent strong gains.

In economic releases, U.S. business activity fell to a fourth-month low in August and the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits ticked up in the latest week, raising economic uncertainty.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite tumbled 1.7 percent, the S&P 500 shed 0.9 percent and the Dow dipped 0.4 percent.

European stocks rose for a second straight session on Thursday as the minutes from the Fed and ECB meetings left the door open to rate cuts in September.

The pan European STOXX 600 gained 0.4 percent. The German DAX edged up 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 ended flat with a positive bias while France's CAC 40 finished marginally lower.