Sensex, Nifty To Open On Cautious Note As Bond Yields Rise

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may open on a sluggish note Friday as rising bond yields may weigh on IT stocks.

Infrastructure stocks may gain after Morgan Stanley highlighted companies such as Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, Titagarh Rail Systems, and Ultratech Cement as major beneficiaries of the government's infrastructure spending.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty recovered from an early slide to end up around 0.2 percent each Thursday on eve of the weekly F&O expiry.

The rupee plunged 17 paise to settle at over two-month low level of 83.61 against the dollar due to surging crude oil prices, equity outflows and importer demand.

Asian markets struggled for direction this morning while gold held steady after climbing more than 1 percent to their highest level in two weeks Thursday on bets for interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year.

Oil prices were marginally lower in Asian trading after rising in the New York session to hit a seven-week high.

U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight while Treasury yields rose as investors reacted to mixed economic data and cautious comments from Fed officials on the rate path Data showed a slight decline in jobless claims last week and sluggish homebuilding in May.

In a discussion at the 2024 Michigan Bankers Association Convention, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari noted that it will probably take a year or two to get inflation back to the central bank's 2 percent target.

The Dow gained 0.8 percent to reach a nearly one-month closing high while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed 0.8 percent.

The S&P 500 briefly topped the 5,500 milestone for the first time ever before closing 0.3 percent lower.

European stocks rose on Thursday after a slew of central bank decisions, with the Swiss National Bank delivering another rate cut and the Bank of England signaling its first rate cut in August.

The pan European STOXX 600 advanced 0.9 percent. The German DAX rallied 1 percent, France's CAC 40 climbed 1.3 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.8 percent.