Sensex, Nifty Set To Open Higher On Positive Global Cues

Edited by Abhishek Vasudev (with inputs from Reuters)

29 Jan 2021, 08:48 AM IST

Sensex, Nifty Set To Open Higher On Positive Global Cues

The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes are set to open higher on the back of positive global cues. Asian stock markets recovered on Friday but are headed for their steepest weekly loss in months, as a liquidity squeeze in China and a Wall Street retail-trading frenzy has unnerved investors. Meanwhile, Nifty futures traded on Singapore Exchange was also indicating a strong start for the markets. SGX Nifty futures was up 124 points at 13,966. In yesterday's session, the benchmarks fell for a fifth session in a row.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.9 per cent, but is headed for a weekly loss of more than 3 per cent, the sharpest such fall since September.

Japan's Nikkei was steady but tracking toward its first weekly loss of 2021, having fallen 1.5 per cent since last Friday.

Overnight, the dollar retreated and Wall Street rallied on Thursday as investors looked past weak US GDP and jobless claims data to hopes of a rosier economy ahead and welcomed restrictions on the social media-driven trading frenzy.

Online trading platforms Robinhood and Interactive Brokers restricted trading in shares of GameStop, BlackBerry and other companies that saw hefty gains this week after they were targeted by an army of retail buyers.

Shares of GameStop plunged about 44 per cent from Wednesday's close, to $196.14, after hitting $483 earlier in the session. The shares had traded under $20 at the beginning of the year.

Back home, aviation shares will be in focus after the government extended ban on international commercial flights till February 28, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a circular on Thursday. The ban on scheduled overseas flights was to end on January 31, after a ten-month period.

Tata Chemicals on Thursday reported a 3.66 per cent decline in consolidated profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 160.85 crore for the third quarter ended December 2020. The company's PAT stood at Rs 166.97 crore during the corresponding period of 2019-20.