Sensex, Nifty Likely To Open Higher Today

Domestic stock markets are likely to start Friday's session on a higher note, tracking gains in Asian peers. The Singapore Exchange (SGX) Nifty futures - an early indicator of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty index in India - rose as much as 37 points to touch 12,081.00 ahead of the opening of Indian markets. At 8:46 am, the SGX Nifty futures were up 20.00  points - or 0.17 per cent - at 12,064.00.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in a surprise move on Thursday left the key lending rate unchanged while maintaining an "accommodative" stance. The RBI however lowered its economic growth forecast to 5 per cent for the financial year ending March 2020.

Equities in other Asian markets gained after US President Donald Trump said trade talks with China were "moving right along". MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last seen trading 0.5 per cent higher while Japan's Nikkei was up 0.3 per cent.

The US President's upbeat tone in comments on Thursday was enough to spark buying, despite a lack of agreement between Washington and Beijing over whether existing tariffs should be dropped as part of a preliminary deal to end their trade war.

The S&P BSE Sensex index had declined 70.70 points (0.17 per cent) to end a volatile session at 40,779.59 on Thursday, and the broader NSE Nifty benchmark settled at 12,018.40, down 24.80 points (0.21 per cent) from the previous close.

The Sensex is down 14.22 points and Nifty 37.65 points in the four trading sessions so far this week.