India’s equity benchmarks are likely to open higher on Friday, after two consecutive sessions of declines, though sentiment is expected to stay subdued on worries over US tariffs.
Gift Nifty futures were trading at 24,666.5 points as of 07:47 a.m. IST, indicating that the Nifty 50 will open above Thursday’s close of 24,500.9.
The Nifty 50 and Sensex have dropped about 2 per cent each in the last two sessions, pressured by mounting concerns about the impact of US tariffs on Indian goods.
US President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods over its purchase of Russian oil, adding to the earlier 25 per cent duty.
Still, India’s Russian oil imports are set to rise in September, dealers said, in defiance of US punitive measures.
For the month, Sensex is down 1.4 per cent, while Nifty is down 1.1 per cent as foreign investors offloaded $3.3 billion worth of Indian shares in August, the highest for a month since February.
The domestic economic growth data is due after market hours. The economy likely slowed in the April-June quarter as weak urban demand and slow private investment weighed on growth, a Reuters poll of economists showed.
The market is also awaiting next week’s meeting of the Goods and Services Tax council, which will discuss sweeping cuts to boost the economy in the face of a trade conflict with the US.
Among individual stocks, oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries will be in focus ahead of its annual general meeting of shareholders.