Sensex, Nifty Seen Slightly Higher At Open

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open on a positive note Friday as a stronger-than-expected U.S. jobs report helped ease investor concerns about a potential economic slowdown.

That said, volatility cannot be ruled out due to anxiety ahead of next week's deadline for higher U.S. levies.

As of now, U.S. President Donald Trump hasn't shown any signs of extending his 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs beyond 9 July.

Trump said late Thursday that he "will begin sending letters on trade tariffs starting Friday."

"We're probably going to be sending some letters out, starting probably tomorrow, maybe 10 a day to various countries saying what they're going to pay to do business with the U.S.," Trump said.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended down around 0.2 percent each on Thursday while the rupee closed up 39 paisa at 85.31 per dollar, after having appreciated to 85.18 earlier, its highest level since late May.

Asian markets were mixed this morning following Trump's tariff threats. The dollar edged lower due to U.S. fiscal concerns, following the passage of Trump's 'big, beautiful' tax and spending bill, which would add trillions to the national debt and deepening fiscal imbalances.

Gold edged up slightly after falling 1 percent on Thursday as upbeat U.S. jobs data erased bets for a July rate cut by the Federal Reserve. The chance of a move in September also ebbed to about 70 percent.

Oil held a decline before an OPEC+ meeting that's set to deliver another oversized production hike.

U.S. stocks posted strong gains overnight as a robust jobs report along with encouraging jobless claims and service sector activity readings helped ease worries about economic stress but tempered expectations for an imminent interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

Data showed non-farm payroll employment shot up by 147,000 jobs in June after an upwardly revised addition of 144,000 jobs in May. The jobless rate edged down to 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent in May.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.8 percent to close at record highs as Republicans progressed with President Trump's tax-cut bill. The narrower Dow gained 0.8 percent.

European stocks closed higher on Thursday after the release of strong jobs data and amid receding concerns about the political situation in the U.K.

The pan European STOXX 600 edged up by half a percent. The German DAX and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both rose by 0.6 percent, while France's CAC 40 gained 0.2 percent.