Sensex, Nifty Seen Higher At Open On Firm Global Cues

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are likely to open higher on Friday, tracking firm cues from global markets and falling oil prices on oversupply concerns ahead of an OPEC+ meeting this weekend.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday hailed GST 2.0 as a double dose of support and growth for the nation and asserted that the series of next-generation reforms to make India self-reliant will not stop.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told NDTV that the timing of the GST overhaul had nothing to do with the 50 percent U.S. tariff on Indian goods, adding there is no need to "panic" and both countries will come to an equitable, balanced and fair agreement.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended modestly higher on Thursday, giving up some early gains on hopes of robust domestic GDP growth.

The rupee fell by 12 paise to close at 88.14 against the greenback on dollar bids from importers and sustained foreign fund outflows.

Foreign investors net sold shares worth Rs 106 crore on Thursday while domestic institutional investors bought shares to the tune of Rs 2,233 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

Asian markets were mostly higher this morning, even as regional gains remained limited after U.S. President Donald Trump said that his administration would impose tariffs on semiconductor imports from firms not moving production to the United States.

"We will be putting a tariff very shortly," Trump said at a White House dinner with tech industry executives. "Not that high, but fairly substantial tariff."

The dollar slipped against its major rivals and Treasuries extended a Thursday rally while gold edged higher and headed for a third weekly gain on Fed rate cut bets.

A U.S. jobs report due later in the day may reinforce bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this month.

Oil extended losses into a third session on concerns that OPEC+ may bolster supply at a meeting on Sunday.

Overnight, U.S. stocks bounced back after days of losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rallied 1 percent as softer labor market data showing weaker than expected private sector job growth in August and a rise in applications for unemployment benefits to the highest since June fueled fresh hopes for a Federal Reserve rate cut this month.

The S&P 500 and the Dow both climbed around 0.8 percent to reach new record closing highs.

European stocks closed mostly higher on Thursday as recent bond market jitters subsided.

The pan European STOXX 600 gained 0.6 percent. The German DAX gained 0.7 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.4 percent while France's CAC 40 eased 0.3 percent.