Indian shares are likely to open lower on Friday, with climbing oil prices and geopolitical uncertainty likely to keep investors nervous, heading into the weekend.
Oil prices jumped nearly 2 percent in Asian trade after Russia reportedly escalated its assault by attacking a Ukrainian nuclear plant, the biggest in Europe.
Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty fell round 0.7 percent each on Thursday while the rupee declined 14 paise to close at 75.94 against the dollar.
Asian markets were moving lower and U.S. stock futures tumbled as Russia’s assault on Ukraine threatened to cause increased global economic unrest.
The euro was set for its worst week versus the dollar in nine months while gold climbed on increased safe-haven demand.
U.S. stocks showed wild swings before finishing a tad lower overnight amid concerns that the sanctions imposed on Russia along with the subsequent surge in commodity prices will affect inflation and the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy.
In economic news, the latest labor market and service sector data painted a mixed picture of the world’s largest economy.
The Dow eased 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 shed half a percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 1.6 percent.
European stocks fell for the third time in four days Thursday as two credit agencies downgraded Russia’s sovereign debt to junk and index providers MSCI and FTSE Russell said they would remove Russian securities from their indexes.
The pan European Stoxx 600 plummeted 2 percent. The German DAX tumbled 2.2 percent, France’s CAC 40 index gave up 1.8 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 plunged 2.6 percent.
Market Analysis
Sensex, Nifty Set To Tumble As Ukraine Crisis Deepens
2022-03-04 03:03:11
