Sensex, Nifty Seen Up As Infosys Unveils Record Rs. 18,000 Crore Share Buyback

(RTTNews) - Indian shares look set to open higher on Friday as overnight inflation and labor market data added to recent optimism about the outlook for U.S. interest rates.

IT stocks could be in focus after Infosys' board approved a proposal to buy back equity shares with Rs 18,000 crore —the biggest ever by the company.

The company said it would spend a sum of Rs. 18,000 crore to repurchase 10 crore shares from shareholders via the tender offer route at Rs.1,800 per share, which is a 19 percent premium to Thursday's closing price.

Speculation is now rife that TCS may also announce a buyback of shares in the third quarter of the current financial year, instead of paying a large, special dividend to its shareholders.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended a choppy session modestly higher on Thursday.

However, the rupee plummeted to a new record low of 88.4425, driven by strong dollar demand from importers and growing worries about the impact of U.S. tariffs on India's GDP growth.

Foreign Institutional Investors net sold shares worth Rs 3,472 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors bought shares to the tune of Rs 4,046 crore, as per provisional data on NSE.

Asian markets followed Wall Street higher this morning, with benchmark indexes in South Korea and Hong Kong rising over 1 percent each.

The dollar was under pressure, while gold held firm below $3,650 an ounce, after having reached a new record high of 3,673.95 early in the week.

Oil extended steep losses from the previous session as worries over weakening U.S. demand and a global supply glut overshadowed concerns about potential disruptions from the Middle East conflict and the war in Ukraine.

U.S. stocks surged overnight, with all three major averages closing at record levels, as a relatively tame CPI reading coupled with more signs of jobs cooling cemented expectations for coming cuts to interest rates.

Treasury yields fell as data showed jobless claims jumped last week to the highest level in almost four years, indicating layoff activity may be on the rise.

Separate data revealed the annual rate of consumer price growth accelerated to 2.9 percent in August from 2.7 percent in July, matching expectations as companies continued to push the cost of tariffs on to consumers.

The core CPI, which excludes energy and food costs, came in unchanged from the previous month at 3.1 percent.

The Dow jumped 1.4 percent, the S&P 500 climbed 0.9 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.7 percent.

European stocks closed higher on Thursday as the European Central Bank held interest rates steady at 2 percent for the second consecutive meeting, lowered inflation forecasts and raised its 2025 GDP forecast.

The pan European STOXX 600 advanced 0.6 percent. The German DAX edged up by 0.3 percent, while France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 both gained by 0.8 percent.