Sensex, Nifty Likely To Start Day On A Positive Note

Domestic stock markets are likely to start Friday's session on a positive note, continuing their upmove after a two-day pause. The Singapore Exchange (SGX) Nifty futures - an early indicator of the National Stock Exchange's Nifty 50 benchmark index - added as many as 74 points to touch 10,305.50 ahead of the opening of Indian markets. At 8:20 am, the SGX Nifty futures were up 42.00 points - or 0.41 per cent - at 10,273.50.

Equities in other Asian markets eked out gains on Friday but were set to finish the week on a flat note. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was last seen trading 0.15 per cent higher, while Japan's Nikkei 225 benchmark was up 0.97 per cent.

While China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng indices were up 0.30 per cent and 0.93 per cent respectively at the time, South Korea's KOSPI benchmark was down 0.48 per cent.

The E-Mini S&P 500 futures were down 0.15 per cent, indicating a mildly negative start for US markets on Friday.

Overnight, Wall Street finished a choppy session on a positive note. The S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite indices ended 1.10 per cent, 1.18 per cent and 1.09 per cent higher respectively.

On Thursday, the Sensex ended a volatile session 26.88 points - or 0.08 per cent - lower at 34,842.10, and the Nifty settled at 10,288.90, down 16.40 points - or 0.16 per cent - from its previous close.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday predicted the Indian economy would contract by 4.5 per cent in 2020, and said it expects global output to shrink 4.9 per cent this year - a sharper fall than the 3 per cent contraction predicted in April.