Sensex, Nifty Seen Up On Firm Global Cues

Indian shares are likely to open higher on Friday on the back of positive global cues. Banks could be in focus after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government is in active discussion with the Reserve Bank of India to offer a one-time loan restructuring plan to companies for them to survive the adverse impact of Covid-19 pandemic.

She also stressed on the need for banks to pass on the benefits of repo rate cuts by reducing interest rate aggressively.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministry indicated that the Indo-China border remains tense despite both parties agreeing to disengage during Corp Commander talks.

The threats from China to India and countries in Southeast Asia and the challenges in the South China Sea are going to dictate the allocation of defence resources as U.S. cuts troop levels in Germany, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a virtual meeting of the Brussels Forum of the German Marshall Fund.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty fluctuated before ending marginally lower on Thursday amid the expiry of June-series futures and options (F&O) contracts. The rupee gained 7 paise to close at 75.65 against the U.S. dollar

Asian markets edged higher this morning despite rising new coronavirus infections. In its annual stress test, the Federal Reserve said the nation's biggest banks are healthy but could suffer up to $700 billion in losses on soured loans if the economy languishes. The Fed ordered them to cap dividends and suspend share buybacks to conserve funds.

The dollar held steady against a basket of currencies and gold remains on track for a third weekly gain, while oil prices rose over 1 percent on optimism about revering fuel demand worldwide.

U.S. stocks rose sharply overnight after regulators announced plans to ease restrictions on large banks' investments and a report showed U.S. orders for durable goods jumped in May by the most in nearly six years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1.2 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index and the S&P 500 climbed around 1.1 percent each.

European markets ended Thursday's session higher after the European Central Bank said it would set up a new backstop facility to address the coronavirus-related euro liquidity needs among central banks outside the euro area.

The pan European Stoxx 600 advanced 0.7 percent. The German DAX rose 0.7 percent, France's CAC 40 index gained 1 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 added 0.4 percent.