Sensex, Nifty Set To Follow Global Peers Higher As Trade Concerns Ease

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may follow global peers higher on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new reciprocal tariff plan, aiming to match levies imposed by other nations, but delayed any immediate action, raising the prospect for negotiations.

Defense stocks could be in focus today after Trump said the United States will be increasing its military sales to India by billions of dollars and his administration is paving the way to provide India with F35 Stealth fighters.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty erased early gains to end marginally lower on Thursday, extending losses for a seventh day running. The rupee settled 3 paise higher at 86.92 against the dollar.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday allayed concerns around the recent depreciation of rupee and said the government and the Reserve Bank of India are working to stabilize it and would continue to keep vigil on the fluctuation in the currency.

Asian markets were mixed this morning while Treasures and the dollar index were little changed. Gold was set for a seventh weekly gain amid concerns of a global trade war. Oil steadied after a modest decline on Thursday.

U.S. stocks rose sharply overnight to close near record highs while Treasury yields tumbled as data showed producer prices increased solidly in January, but components of the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation reading were relatively tame, adding to hopes the PCE reading may be cooler than currently expected.

Sentiment was also buoyed by hopes of a resolution to the Ukraine war and President Trump's decision to delay the implementation of his much-hyped additional tariffs on foreign goods.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged 1.5 percent, the S&P 500 rallied 1 percent and the Dow added 0.8 percent.

European stocks hit a record high on Thursday amid a flurry of earnings and rising hopes of an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The pan European STOXX 600 gained 1.1 percent. The German DAX climbed 2.1 percent and France's CAC 40 advanced 1.5 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 dipped half a percent.