Sensex, Nifty Set For Steady Open Ahead Of RBI's Rate Decision

(RTTNews) - Indian shares may open slightly higher on Friday as investors await the outcome of the RBI policy meeting later in the day.

The central bank is expected to hike repo rates for the third consecutive time in three months by 35 to 50 basis points in a bid to rein in inflation further.

Traders also await the July jobs report from the United States later in the global day for clues on the trajectory of interest rates for the remainder of the year.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty fluctuated before finishing marginally lower on Thursday, snapping a six-day winning streak amid the weekly futures & options expiry.

Asian markets were mostly higher this morning while gold traded flat after having jumped over 1 percent overnight on the back of a pullback in U.S. Treasury yields and the dollar.

Oil prices held steady after hitting their lowest since before Russia's February invasion of Ukraine in the previous session.

U.S. stocks ended mixed overnight as U.S.-China tensions simmered, weekly jobless claims ticked up and Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester said that the risks of recession have risen.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4 percent to reach a new three-month closing high while the Dow slipped 0.3 percent and the S&P 500 eased marginally.

European stocks ended mostly higher on Thursday even as the Bank of England raised interest rates by the most in 27 years and warned Britain would enter a recession at the end of 2022.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.2 percent. The German DAX and France's CAC 40 index both gained around 0.6 percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 finished on a flat note.