Domestic stock markets are likely to start Friday's session on a flat note amid weakness in Asian peers. The Singapore Exchange (SGX) Nifty futures - an early indicator of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty index in India - declined as much as 26.5 points to 12,103.00 ahead of the opening of Indian markets before turning flat. At 8:30 am, the SGX Nifty futures were down 7.00 points (0.06 per cent) at 12,122.50.
MCCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was last seen trading 0.72 per cent lower while Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 0.08 per cent.
On Thursday, the S&P BSE Sensex index had risen 163.37 points - or 0.40 per cent - to end at 41,306.03 and the broader NSE Nifty benchmark climbed 48.80 points - or 0.40 per cent - to 12,137.95.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the repo rate - the key interest rate at which it lends short-term funds to commercial banks - unchanged at 5.15 per cent and maintained an "accommodative" stance of policy. The central bank however did hint at further rate cuts ahead.
Last year, the RBI lowered the key lending rates in five out of six bi-monthly reviews, reducing the repo rate by a total 135 basis points (1.35 percentage point).
