The Indian equity benchmarks are likely to open on a negative note on Friday as indicated by the Nifty futures traded on the Singapore Exchange. The SGX index was trading 111 points or 0.62 per cent lower at 17,768.
On Thursday, while the Sensex settled 412 points lower at 59,934, the Nifty 50 index, after crossing 18,000 mark in early trade, ended below the 17,900 level.
Here are key things to know before the markets open on Friday.
The US stocks traded lower on Thursday, two days after the markets witnessed the biggest pullback in over two years on Tuesday. The S&P500 index was trading 44.66 points or 1.1 per cent lower at 3,901, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 173.27 points or 0.6 per cent to 30,961. While the Nasdaq slipped 167.32 points or 1.4 per cent to 11,552, the Russell 2000 for smaller companies declined 13.23 points or 0.7 per cent to 1,825.
The Asian stocks were trading lower on Friday following the slump in shares of Wall Street. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 plunged 1.10 per cent, whereas South Korea’s KOSPI declined 0.54 per cent. Singapore’s Hang Seng index was trading 1.10 per cent lower. China’s Shanghai Composite plunged 0.90 per cent, whereas Shenzhen Component was trading lower at 0.72 per cent.
The foreign institutional investors remained the net sellers worth Rs 1,270 crore, whereas the domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 928 crore on Thursday.
Crude oil edged lower on Friday, thus extending the week’s losses amidst concerns of an aggressive rate hike by the US Federal Reserve to curtail inflation. Brent crude futures slipped 22 cents or 0.2 per cent to $90.62 per barrel at 0052 GMT whereas US West Texas Intermediate plunged 25 cents or 0.3 per cent to $84.85 per barrel.
Gold prices inched near a two-year low on Friday. While the Spot gold remained unchanged at $1,664.48 per ounce, the US gold futures slipped 0.3 per cent to $1,673.
Adani Ports- Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones (APSEZ) will enhance Haldia Dock’s capacity in Bengal as its wholly-owned subsidiary HDC Bulk Terminal Ltd has signed a concession agreement with Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Kolkata (SMPK) for the mechanization of a berth No 2, at Haldia Port.
Tata Power- Tata Power’s subsidiary Tata Power Solar System bagged a contract for the construction of a 100 MW solar project at Raghanesda in Gujarat from state-owned SJVN. The contract includes end to end delivery of the commissioned solar plant to SJVN including comprehensive operation and maintenance of the plant for three years
PVR- Three different entities have offloaded 40.45 lakh shares of multiplex operator PVR that are worth Rs 759.14 crore through open market transactions. Plenty Private Equity Fund I offloaded 10,76,259 shares of the firm at an average price of Rs 1,887.04 and Gray Birch Investment sold 22,06,743 shares at Rs 1,871.18 apiece.
