Sensex, Nifty Seen Opening Little Changed On Muted Global Cues

Indian shares may open on a flat note Friday as investors weigh muted global cues against a sharp fall in oil prices.

Crude oil prices were mixed this morning after tumbling around 3 percent in the U.S. trading session overnight on signs of easing supply disruptions.

Losses, if any, may remain limited on data showing that FIIs have turned net buyers after being sellers for six consecutive days.

Banks could be in focus today after the RBI’s Financial Stability Report cautioned that Indian banks’ gross non-performing assets ratio may rise to 4.4 percent by September 2024.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty rose around half a percent each on Thursday to extend gains for the fifth straight session and touch fresh record closing highs, while the rupee settled 17 paise higher at 83.17 against the dollar.

Asian markets traded mixed in the final trading session of the year.

The dollar index traded weak after the release of downbeat U.S. economic data while gold prices were seeing modest gains.

U.S. stocks ended narrowly mixed overnight while benchmark Treasury yields and the dollar edged up from five-month lows on the penultimate trading day of 2023.

In economic releases, the number of Americans filing initial claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, while November pending home sales were unchanged.

The Dow inched up 0.1 percent to hit a new record closing high and the S&P finished marginally higher while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended flat with a negative bias.

European stocks slipped on Thursday after recent gains on dovish Fed bets. The pan European STOXX 600 eased 0.1 percent.

The German DAX slipped 0.2 percent, France’s CAC 40 dropped half a percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 finished marginally lower.

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