Sensex, Nifty Seen Lower As Oil Prices Surge

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening lower on Friday as Tata Consultancy Services missed Q2 profit estimates and oil headed for a second weekly gain after surging by more than 3 percent on Thursday on geopolitical woes.

At least 22 people were killed and almost 120 got wounded as Israeli air strikes hit two residential blocks in heart of Beirut.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty posted marginal gains on Wednesday despite overseas investors extending their selling streak. The rupee fell by 2 paise to close at 83.98 against the dollar.

Asian stocks were muted this morning, with China's Shanghai Composite index falling more than 1 percent as investors await potential fiscal stimulus announcements from a finance ministry press conference scheduled on Saturday.

Gold prices surged while the U.S. dollar fell from two-month highs as signs of weakness in the labor market boosted the case for quicker Federal Reserve rate cuts.

U.S. stocks ended marginally lower overnight while longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields edged up in choppy trading, as data showed slightly stickier inflation for September and a big jump in the initial jobless claims to its highest level in a year last week.

Data showed the annual rate of consumer price growth slowed to 2.4 percent in September from 2.5 percent in August while economists had expected the pace of price growth to slow to 2.3 percent.

The annual rate of core consumer price growth accelerated to 3.3 percent from 3.2 percent in August.

Investors also digested comments from Fed officials and looked forward to earnings from big banks.

The Dow slipped 0.1 percent and the S&P 500 dipped 0.2 percent after hitting record closing highs the previous day. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended flat with a negative bias.

European stocks also closed on a weak note Thursday due to lingering geopolitical tensions and uncertainty over the U.S. rate outlook.

The pan European STOXX 600 dropped 0.2 percent. The German DAX and France's CAC 40 both dipped by 0.2 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished marginally lower.