Sensex, Nifty Set For Tepid Start

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may open lower on Friday as investors react to mixed global cues and monitor the latest developments in the U.S. debt ceiling negotiations.

Continued FII inflows and a sharp fall in oil prices in the U.S. trading session overnight may help limit overall losses to some extent.

On the earnings front, Vodafone narrowed its Q4 net loss and reported its first annual revenue growth since merger of Vodafone and Idea Cellular in 2018.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises posted consolidated net loss of Rs 196 crore for the quarter ended March 31 as against Rs 182-crore profit a year ago.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended modestly higher on Thursday, after having traded lower for most part of the day on the eve of F&O expiry. The rupee fell by 7 paise to close at 82.75 against the dollar.

Asian stocks traded mixed this morning as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed to work through the holiday weekend to resolve the debt ceiling standoff.

The dollar index held near a two-month high, and gold was tad higher while oil steadied following its biggest decline since early May after Russia downplayed the prospect of further OPEC+ production cuts.

U.S. markets ended broadly higher overnight as a blowout forecast from chipmaker Nvidia offset U.S. debt ceiling and interest-rate worries.

In economic news, Q1 GDP was revised up while weekly jobless claims rose modestly in the week ended May 20th.

The Nasdaq Composite rallied 1.7 percent and the S&P 500 added 0.9 percent while the Dow slipped 0.1 percent.

European stocks fell on Thursday as U.S. debt ceiling worries lingered, and data showed the German economy was in recession in early 2023.

The pan European STOXX 600 dropped 0.3 percent. The German DAX and France's CAC 40 both eased around 0.3 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 shed 0.7 percent.