NEW DELHI: Asian shares had a muted start on Friday amid growing concerns of trade tensions in US and China. Markets are likely to remain under pressure as a weak currency and stubborn global oil prices pose inflationary risks to net energy importers like India. Both BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty finished lower on Thursday for the second staright session. The benchmark Sensex had slumped 179.47 points to end at 35,037.64, while the broader Nifty shed 82.30 points to 10,589.10.
Continuing its free fall for the fourth straight session, the Indian rupee yesterday hit a record closing low of 68.79, showing a fall of 18 paise against the US dollar. The rupee had plunged to a fresh record of 69.10 against the dollar in early trade, before clawing back lost ground.
Global oil prices have climbed to about $78 a barrel after the US asked its allies to end all imports of Iranian oil by November. Concerns over supply disruptions in Libya and Canada also pushed prices higher.
Participants also offloaded their long bets in futures and options (F&O) segment instead of carrying them forward to the next series for July, brokers had said.
“Weak global cues and rising oil price continued to impact domestic market sentiment while rupee declined to all-time low amid concern on inflation and current account deficit,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
Factors to watch:
- Stocks of banking, IT and auto will be among the top shares to watch out for.
- 9:30 am: NITI Aayog member V.K. Saraswat at India Minerals and Metals Forum in New Delhi.
- 10:30 am: Bank of Maharashtra annual meeting in Pune.
