Sensex, Nifty Seen Higher At Open

Indian shares look set to open mostly higher on Friday as investors react to continued gains in world markets, Apple’s tepid holiday-quarter forecast, a sharp jump in oil prices overnight and the latest batch of earnings results from the likes of Tata Motors, Adani Power and Dabur India.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty jumped around 0.8 percent each on Thursday following two days of losses. The rupee settled 2 paise higher at 83.26 against the dollar.

Asian markets were broadly higher this morning, as a hawkish interest-rate hold by the Federal Reserve coupled with weak U.S. economic data released overnight fueled hopes that the U.S. central bank is done with the most aggressive tightening cycle in four decades.

The dollar eased and Treasury yields fell after weeks of high levels ahead of the all-important U.S. jobs report due later in the day, with economists expecting a slowdown in hiring for October.

Gold edged down slightly in Asian trade while oil was tad lower after rising sharply on Thursday to snap a three-day losing streak.

Shares of Apple were down nearly 3 percent in U.S. after-hours trading on below expectations sales forecast for the holiday quarter.

Meanwhile, a private sector survey showed earlier today that China’s services activity expanded at a slightly faster pace in October.

U.S. stocks extended the week’s rally overnight and Treasury yields fell as data showing an uptick in weekly jobless claims and declining labor costs added to bets that the Fed is done raising interest rates.

The Dow jumped 1.7 percent to post its best single-day gain since June and the S&P 500 soared 1.9 percent to mark its best day since April, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 1.8 percent, marking its best session since July.

European stocks rose for a fourth straight session on Thursday as investors reacted to a slightly dovish Fed policy statement, weak U.S. economic data and the Bank of England’s status quo decision on rates.

The pan European STOXX 600…