BENGALURU: India’s benchmark Nifty 50 index is set to open higher on Friday, after a three-day losing streak, tracking Asian peers after data bolstered bets of a soft landing for the US economy.
India’s GIFT Nifty was trading at 21,588.50 as of 8:24 a.m. IST, suggesting the NSE Nifty 50 will open above its Thursday closing of 21,462.25.
Both the Nifty 50 and the Sensex have dropped about 3% from Tuesday’s record highs, as a slide in top private lender HDFC Bank’s shares on weak December-quarter margins and rising doubts over early US rate cuts weighed.
So far this week, the blue-chip indexes have lost nearly 2% each.
If the losses hold, the benchmarks are staring at their worst weekly performance since the end of October.
“Muted results and guidance from key corporates are souring investor mood,” said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities. The worries of a delay in US rate cuts also led to pessimism among investors, Jasani added.
Wall Street equities closed higher overnight after labour market data showed initial claims for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level since Sept. 2022.
While the data provides the latest evidence of resilience in the US economy and adds to expectations of a soft landing, it also raises further doubts over a potential rate cut in the Federal Reserve’s March meeting.
Asian markets opened higher.
Weak earnings, fading US rate cut hopes drag Indian shares
The results of Nifty 50 constituents - Reliance Industries and Ultratech Cement, due on Friday, are now on investors’ radar.
Foreign institutional investors sold Indian shares worth a net 99.02 billion rupees ($1.19 billion) on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth 59.77 billion rupees.
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