Sensex, Nifty Seen Slightly Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - Gift Nifty futures indicate a positive open for Indian markets Friday despite weak cues from global markets.

Stock-specific action as a result of earnings releases and expectations ahead of the much-anticipated Union Budget 2024-25 may sway sentiment as the session progresses. Bharat Petroleum, JSW Steel, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement and Wipro are among the prominent companies that will unveil their quarterly earnings results later today.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth a net Rs 5,483.63 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DII) sold shares worth Rs 2,904.25 crore, according to provisional data available on the NSE.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty recovered from initial weakness to reach record high levels on Thursday, with information technology stocks leading the surge.

Asian markets traded lower this morning, tracking declines in U.S. stocks for the second day.

Chinese Communist Party Third Plenum has concluded and the readout from the key conclave of Party officials failed to convince investors about the economy's new growth impetus.

The dollar index was marginally higher in Asian trade and headed for a weekly gain as the yen wobbled after the release of Japanese inflation data. Gold fell from record levels and oil prices dropped due to dollar strength.

U.S. stocks tumbled overnight as technology stocks extended losses amid fears of new trade tensions with China.

In economic releases, a measure of regional manufacturing activity improved markedly in July while initial jobless claims increased more than expected last week, adding to concerns about the labor market.

The Dow dropped 1.3 percent after closing at record highs in each of the previous two sessions.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.7 percent and the S&P 500 shed 0.8 percent to extend losses from the previous session.

European stocks ended mixed on Thursday as U.K. wage growth slowed in a sign of weakening jobs market and the ECB left options open for a September rate cut after leaving interest rates unchanged.

The pan European STOX 600 eased 0.2 percent. The German DAX fell half a percent, while France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both edged up 0.2 percent.