Sensex, Nifty Set To Follow Global Peers Lower; RBI Meeting Eyed

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening lower on Friday after the S&P 500 posted its biggest daily percentage drop since Feb. 13 overnight on concerns about the outlook for interest-rate cuts.

Investors also await the RBI's rate decision later in the day, which might be impacted by a number of factors inflation, growth prospects and global headwinds.

The RBI may keep policy repo rates steady and project a rate cut in the second half of the current financial year.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty recovered from an early slide to end modestly higher on Thursday.

The rupee ended at a record closing low of 83.4375 against the dollar despite likely RBI intervention.

Asian markets traded lower as investors braced for the all-important U.S. jobs report due out later in the day, which could hold more clues on the labor market and inflation.

The dollar held steady against peer currencies after hitting a two-week low the previous day.

Gold declined in Asian trading after hitting a record peak in the previous session.

Oil extended recent gains and headed for a second weekly gain due to unrest in the Middle East and Europe.

U.S. stocks ended sharply lower overnight after a late-day sell-off amid concerns that higher energy prices will keep inflation elevated and could force the Fed to delay its first cut to interest rates.

Investors also reacted to hawkish comments from Fed officials and data showing a rise in weekly jobless claims to a two-month high last week.

The Dow and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite both slumped around 1.4 percent while the S&P 500 shed 1.2 percent.

European stocks rose on Thursday after the release of Eurozone private sector and producer price inflation data and minutes of ECB's most recent policy meeting.

The pan European STOXX 600 gained 0.2 percent. The German DAX inched up 0.2 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added half a percent while France's CAC 40 finished marginally lower.