Indian Shares Seen Lower At Open

Indian shares look set to open lower on Friday, with a spike in global bond yields and concerns over a continued surge in coronavirus cases in the country likely to keep underlying sentiment cautious.

According to reports, India has seen the sharpest surge in Covid-19 infections in at least the last 10 months over the past five days.

Financials could be in focus after the Rajya Sabha passed the bill to hike foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector to 74 percent from current 49 percent.

Energy stocks may also see increased activity as oil extended a dramatic rout, declining for a sixth day to trade below $60 a barrel.

Oil prices rose slightly in Asian trade, but were still down more than 8 percent for the week as reports showing a surge in coronavirus cases in several countries in Europe and fears of fresh lockdown measures raised concerns about energy demand.

Meanwhile, it is feared that rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia could result in the latter increasing its oil output.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty fell over 1 percent on Thursday to extend losses for the fifth day, while the rupee ended marginally higher at 72.53 against the U.S. dollar.

Asian markets drifted lower this morning and gold extended losses, while the safe-haven dollar strengthened again amid higher yields.

U.S. stocks fell overnight as oil prices recorded their biggest one-day drop since September and bond yields surged on expectations for faster economic recovery and inflation.

Economic reports proved to be a mixed bag. While U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly jumped to a one-month high due to the impact of Winter Storm Uri, a measure of regional manufacturing activity spiked to a nearly 50-year high.

The Dow dropped half a percent and the S&P 500 shed 1.5 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index plunged as much as 3 percent amid a sell-off in technology stocks.

European stocks rose on Thursday after both the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England vowed to keep liquidity plentiful despite concerns around inflation.

The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.4 percent. The German DAX rallied 1.2 percent, France’s CAC 40 index inched up 0.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3 percent.

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