Nifty Seen Opening On A Flat Note Ahead of Weekly Derivatives Expiry

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open on a flat note as indicated by the Nifty futures traded on the Singapore Exchange. The Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange also known as the SGX Nifty futures fell 11 points to 17,086 amid cautious trend in other Asian markets. Asian share markets were in a cautious mood on Thursday as concerns grew over the Chinese economy after a run of soft data, while the risk of a sub-par U.S. payrolls report kept the dollar on the defensive.

A raft of manufacturing surveys suggested supply bottlenecks were tightening again with eight of nine Asian countries reporting longer delivery times.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.2 per cent to a five-week high, helped by buying for the new quarter. Japan's Nikkei added 0.1 per cent, while South Korea fell 0.6 per cent.

Overnight, World stock markets closed at new highs on Wednesday as investors looked beyond weak economic data that weighed on the dollar to focus on the likely continuation of massive central bank stimulus measures.

MSCI's all-country world index climbed to its fourth straight closing high, while the Nasdaq Composite hit a fresh record close. The Euro STOXX 600 came close to breaching an all-time peak set three weeks ago and the S&P 500 almost reached a new intraday high.

Back home, foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 666.6 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 1,287 crore.