Sensex, Nifty Seen Tad Higher At Open On Positive Macro Data

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may open flat to slightly higher on Friday as investors react to weak global cues, positive macroeconomic data and mixed earnings results from IT companies.

Global cues remain weak after U.S. headline inflation rate came in a tad higher that what markets had expected.

Closer home, data showed India's industrial production growth rose to a 14-month high of 10.3 percent in August, while retail inflation eased to 5.02 percent in September from 6.83 percent in August, coming back to the RBI's comfort level of below 6 percent after a gap of two months.

On the earnings front, HCL Technologies reported better-than-expected profit for the second quarter but cut its FY24 revenue growth forecast. Infosys also trimmed its revenue outlook for FY24.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended Thursday's session marginally lower, dragged down by IT stocks. The rupee slipped 5 paise to close at 83.24 against the dollar.

Asian stocks were coming under selling pressure this morning as investors awaited earnings from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. due later in the day.

China's consumer inflation remained flat in September, while the producer price index fell 2.5 percent from a year earlier after a 3 percent drop in August, official data showed earlier today.

China's yuan-denominated exports in the first nine months of this year grew an annual 0.6 percent, while imports fell 1.2 percent during the same period. Dollar-denominated trade figures are awaited.

The dollar and Treasury yields steadied in Asian trading after climbing in the U.S. trading session overnight. Gold held near two-week highs while oil prices climbed on supply concerns after the U.S. tightened sanctions against Russian crude exports.

U.S. stocks ended lower overnight and Treasury yields surged as stronger-than-expected inflation data revived Fed rate-hike worries.

Data showed annual consumer inflation rose 3.7 percent in September, slightly higher than estimates of 3.6 percent. Core CPI rose 4.1 percent year-on-year.

The Dow dropped half a percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 both fell around 0.6 percent.

European stocks gave up early gains to end mixed on Thursday after the release of U.K. GDP and U.S. CPI data.

The pan European STOXX 600 inched up 0.1 percent. The German DAX slipped 0.2 percent and France's CAC 40 shed 0.4 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.3 percent.