Sensex, Nifty Likely To Open On Lackluster Note

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are likely to open on a muted note Friday, mirroring tepid cues from global markets.

U.S. rate-cut hopes faded after three Federal Reserve officials argued in favor of keeping borrowing costs high until there's more evidence of easing inflation.

Telecom stocks could be in focus today after reports that the upcoming auction of spectrum has received a good response from telecom operators.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty jumped around 1 percent each on Thursday while the rupee settled four paise lower at 83.50 against the dollar.

Asian markets traded mostly lower this morning, though Chinese and Hong Kong stocks clung to modest gains as authorities stepped up support measures for the property sector.

On the data front, China's industrial output grew more than expected in April, while growth in April retail sales largely missed expectations.

Oil and gold prices were seeing modest gains in Asian trading while the dollar index headed for a weekly loss.

U.S. stocks closed lower overnight, a day after all three major averages hit record closing highs following tamer-than-expected consumer price inflation data.

In economic releases, weekly jobless claims indicated some cooling of the job market and factory output was unchanged in April while overall housing starts rebounded in April following a double-digit decline, separate reports showed.

The Dow reached an intraday high of 40,000 for the time before finishing marginally lower. The S&P 500 eased 0.2 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.3 percent.

European stocks fell for the first time in nine days on Thursday as investors digested some downbeat earnings.

The pan European STOXX 600 dipped 0.2 percent. The German DAX shed 0.7 percent, France's CAC 40 gave up 0.6 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 closed marginally lower.