Indian Shares Poised For Positive Opening

Indian shares are seen opening higher on Friday after two days of steep losses.

Gains in global peers and falling oil prices may offer some support as investors weigh yield outlook.

Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields rose slightly after another lackluster auction of seven-year notes.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said that the relationship between the central bank and the bond market should be “cooperative” and “not combative”, adding that there is “no fight between RBI and market.”

Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty tumbled around 1.5 percent on Thursday to extend losses from the previous session, while the rupee dropped 7 paise to end at 72.62 against the U.S. dollar.

Asian markets followed Wall Street higher this morning despite a climb in global Covid-19 cases. Oil steadied after falling as much as 4 percent on Thursday on concerns over renewed lockdowns in Europe and Asia.

U.S. stocks saw a late-session surge to end higher overnight after President Joe Biden set a new goal of administering 200 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days.

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits dropped to a one-year low last week and U.S. GDP was revised slightly upwards to an annualized rate of 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter, adding to signs of a resurgent economy.

The Dow rose 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 gained half a percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.1 percent.

European stocks ended Thursday’s session on a mixed note as several countries tightened Covid-19 restrictions and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell hinted at inevitably removing some of the stimulus.

The pan European Stoxx 600 ended flat with a negative bias. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 dropped 0.6 percent, while the German DAX and France’s CAC 40 index both edged up around 0.1 percent.