Sensex, Nifty Set For Muted Start

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are set for a muted start on Friday, the last trading day of the year.

Global sentiment remains fragile due to tariff concerns and amid caution ahead of the upcoming quarterly earnings season.

The focus remains on the U.S.-India trade meet, which began on Wednesday and will conclude on Saturday. It involves negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement between the two countries.

Talks for a trade deal are progressing well and will be for the "good" of both countries while protecting domestic interests, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty rose around half a percent each on Thursday despite heightened uncertainty surrounding U.S. trade policy. The rupee marginally weakened to 85.78 per dollar due to month-end dollar demand from oil companies.

Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 11,111.25 crore on a net basis Thursday while domestic institutional investors offloaded shares to the extent of Rs 2,517.70 crore, as per provisional data.

Since resuming their buying activity, FIIs have made a net purchase of Rs 32,488.63 crore in the last six trading sessions.

Asian markets were mostly lower this morning, with Japan and South Korea leading regional losses.

Gold extended gains after hitting a new record in the prior session.

Yields on the 10-year Treasury were little changed and the dollar held steady ahead of the release of PCE price index report, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, later in the day.

Oil prices dipped marginally after rising on Thursday on concerns over potential supply disruption from producers including Iran and Venezuela.

U.S. stocks ended lower overnight as investors remained wary of President Trump's tariff policies.

Economic data offered some relief, with the U.S. economy growing slightly faster than previously estimated in the fourth quarter of 2024, weekly jobless claims slipping last week and pending home sales rebounding in February.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid half a percent, the Dow lost 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 gave up 0.3 percent.

European shares ended at their lowest in nearly two weeks on Thursday after the announcement of 25 percent U.S. tariffs on auto imports.

The pan European STOXX 600 declined 0.4 percent. The German DAX fell 0.7 percent, France's CAC 40 dipped half a percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 eased 0.3 percent.