Sensex, Nifty Seen Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening higher on Friday as India's foreign minister S Jaishankar said that trade talks with the U.S. are still going on and "nothing is decided till everything is".

His statement to local news agencies came in contrast to U.S. President Donald Trump's comments that India had offered to literally charge the U.S. no tariff.

Tech stocks could be in focus after Applied Materials gave a tepid forecast and reports emerged that Facebook parent company Meta Platforms is delaying the rollout of a flagship AI model.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended up around 1.5 percent each on Thursday after a volatile session amid the weekly options expiry. The rupee fell by 28 paise to close at 85.55 against the greenback due to persistent interbank dollar demand.

Asian markets were mostly lower this morning while the dollar dipped alongside U.S. Treasury yields after the release of disappointing U.S. economic data. Gold edged lower and was on track for its worst week in six months.

Oil held steady after two days of losses on fears of a global oil glut, following comments from Trump that the U.S. and Iran were moving closer towards a nuclear deal.

U.S. stocks ended a lackluster session on a mixed note overnight while Treasury yields dipped, as new data spurred speculation the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates twice this year to prevent a recession.

Producer prices unexpectedly fell by the most in five years in April, retail sales growth slowed sharply in the month, factory production declined for the first time in six months, New York state manufacturing contracted for a third month and homebuilder confidence unexpectedly slumped in May, a slew of reports revealed.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4 percent to extend gains for a fourth day running and reach its highest closing level in well over two months. The narrower Dow gained 0.7 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.2 percent.

European stocks closed higher on Thursday, with defense stocks surging after Germany backed U.S. President Trump's call to increase the defense spending target of NATO members to 5 percent of GDP.

The pan European STOXX 600 advanced 0.6 percent. The German DAX climbed 0.7 percent, France's CAC 40 edged up by 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.6 percent.