Indian Shares Set To Open On Tepid Note

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening on a sluggish note Friday, tracking mostly weak cues from global markets.

A cautious undertone may prevail due to a combination of factors, including AI disruption fears, geopolitical tensions, a cautious retail outlook from Walmart and concerns about potential stress within the U.S. private credit market.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty tumbled around 1.5 percent each on Thursday, with selling seen across the board as rising oil prices amid heightened geopolitical tensions prompted traders to lock in gains after recent rallies.

Indian currency and debt markets were closed on Thursday for a local holiday. Foreign investors net sold shares worth Rs 881 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors net sold shares to the extent of Rs 596 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

Asian markets were broadly lower this morning, with South Korea's Kospi average bucking the weak trend.

The dollar was on track for its best weekly gain since mid-November as risk aversion gripped financial markets.

Oil rose to its highest level since August after U.S. President Donald Trump delivered his latest ultimatum to Iran, indicating that the next 10 days will tell whether there will be an accord with Iran.

The yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury note eased to around 4.07 percent while gold was little changed below $5,000 an ounce ahead of key U.S. GDP and inflation readings.

A pivotal U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the legality of Trump's signature tariffs is also expected later in the day.

Overnight, U.S. stocks ended modestly lower as U.S.-Iran tensions escalated, AI disruption worries persisted, Walmart's outlook fell short of analyst estimates and Blue Owl Capital restricted investor redemptions from one of its retail debt funds, raising concerns about potential losses in the private credit market.

The Dow dipped half a percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 both fell around 0.3 percent.

European stocks ended lower on Thursday as investors weighed hawkish minutes from the Federal Reserve's January meeting and parsed weak earnings from the likes of Airbus and Renault.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 declined half a percent. The German DAX shed 0.9 percent, France's CAC 40 slipped 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 gave up 0.6 percent.