Sensex, Nifty Set For Muted Start

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening on a muted note Friday following a lackluster session on Wall Street overnight and mixed cues from other Asian markets this morning.

As 2024 draws to a close, the focus is now on the Federal Reserve's interest rate decisions in 2025 and potential shifts in tariff policies from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

Closer home, the Indian economy is likely to grow at around 6.5 percent in fiscal year 2024-25, closer to the lower end of its 6.5-7 percent projection, the Finance Ministry said in its November monthly economic report.

Another report from RBI revealed that banks' profitability rose for the sixth consecutive year in 2023-24 and their gross bad debts or NPAs declined to a 13-year low of 2.7 percent.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty moved in a tight range before ending narrowly mixed Thursday as trading resumed after a holiday for Christmas.

The rupee fell by 12 paise to close at a record low of 85.27 per dollar due to elevated dollar index levels and continued selling by foreign investors amid global economic uncertainties.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth Rs 2,376.67 crore on Thursday while domestic financial institutions remained net buyers to the extent of Rs 3,336.16 crore, according to the provisional data available on the NSE.

Asian stocks traded mixed this morning, with Japanese markets leading regional gains amid fresh weakness in the yen.

The dollar index was up slightly in Asian trade while oil and prices were little changed.

U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as trading resumed following the Christmas holiday.

Retail sales came in above forecasts during a shorter holiday season while the number of jobless claims fell unexpectedly in the week ending Dec. 21, though continuing claims surged to a three-year high, separate set of data showed.

The Dow edged ended flat with a positive bias while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 both finished marginally lower.

Major European markets were closed on Thursday in observance of Boxing Day.