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The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.05% at 17,534, at 11:21 am IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.04% at 58,714
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Indian shares struggled for direction early on Friday, swinging between gains and losses, as investors awaited a critical US jobs data to get clues on how aggressively will the Federal Reserve raise interest rates.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.05 per cent at 17,534, at 11:21 am IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.04 per cent at 58,714.
"Markets are technically in an overbought territory. Headlines over China-Taiwan will keep markets under pressure and US jobs data will be crucial to watch out. Overall, markets are under selling pressure," said Prashanth Tapse - research analyst, senior VP (research), Mehta Equities.
Analysts expect that 285,000 US jobs were added last month, while unemployment hovered at 3.5 per cent. Investors may not like a strong number if it supports the basis for a continuation of aggressive rate hikes by the US central bank.
"Domestically, data remains strong and we will see cooling down in inflation with crude prices below $90 a barrel and that will help markets to be stable," Tapse said.
Despite a volatile week, foreign investor inflows continued in the domestic market. This week saw inflows of $776.86 million as of Thursday, with $534.34 million being pumped in the previous session.
NTPC shares gained as much as 3.55 per cent after a report said Indian government has allowed public sector enterprises to import items for renewable energy projects from countries, including China.
Shree Cement fell 2.5 per cent and was the top drag on Nifty 50 after National Stock Exchange (NSE) said the stock will be removed from the blue-chip index, effective close of Sept. 30.
Adani Enterprises rose as much as 1.8 per cent after NSE said conglomerate Adani Group's holding company will be added to the Nifty 50 index, effective Sept. 30.
Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Service on Thursday lowered its 2022 growth forecast for India to 7.7 per cent from 8.3 per cent last year, citing rising interest rates, uneven distribution of monsoons and slowing global growth.
(Reuters)