Indian Shares Set To Open On Steady Note

Indian shares look set to open higher on Friday amid growing expectations that the Fed won’t maintain an aggressive inflation rate hiking campaign to avoid tipping the world’s biggest economy into a recession.

That said, volatility cannot be ruled out amid signs of rising Covid-19 cases in Mumbai, climbing oil prices, hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard and the latest data showing a widening trade deficit in May.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty climbed 0.8 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively on Thursday, while the rupee slipped 10 paise to close at 77.60 against the dollar.

Asian markets advanced this morning ahead of a key U.S. jobs report due later in the day. Gold prices hit a one-month high on dollar weakness, while oil prices held steady on doubts that OPEC+ can bridge Russian deficit.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ states agreed to bring forward oil production rises to offset Russian output losses because of Western sanctions.

The oil exporters’ cartel said it would increase supply by 648,000 barrels per day in July and August, 200,000 barrels per day more than scheduled under a supply agreement with other producers, including Russia, known as OPEC+.

U.S. stocks finished higher overnight to snap a two-day losing streak, as bets that the Fed will slow the pace of rate hikes outweighed weak private payrolls data and the latest bleak corporate earnings forecast from Microsoft.

However, Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard told CNBC it’s “very hard to see the case for a pause” in rate hikes, noting the central bank still has “a lot of work to do to get inflation down to our 2 percent target.”

The Dow rallied 1.3 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite surged as much as 2.7 percent and the S&P 500 added 1.8 percent to reach their best closing levels in almost a month.

European stocks closed Thursday’s session higher in thin holiday trade, with the U.K. market closed for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.6 percent, after having lost almost 2 percent over the previous two sessions. The German DAX gained 1 percent and France’s CAC 40 index advanced 1.3 percent.

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