Indian shares are likely to open a tad higher on Friday after a high powered U.S. vaccine advisory panel endorsed mass use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi cited progress over a new Covid-19 relief package.
Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty ended modestly lower on Thursday as investors booked some profits after the recent string of gains. The rupee rose by another 3 paise to mark its seven-week high of 73.57 against the U.S. dollar amid sustained foreign fund inflows.
Asian markets are turning in a mixed performance this morning and gold held steady while oil traded flat after climbing nearly 3 percent overnight on hopes of a speedier economic recovery as coronavirus vaccine rollouts begin.
U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as jobless claims figures exceeded estimates and lawmakers remained at odds over a new fiscal relief package. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 edged down 0.1 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose half a percent.
European markets also ended mixed on Thursday as the ECB rolled out more stimulus measures but forecast a slower rebound in growth next year.
The pan European Stoxx 600 eased 0.4 percent. The German DAX dropped 0.3 percent, while France's CAC 40 index inched up 0.1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose half a percent.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
