Weak opening on the cards

Indian stocks are expected to open on a weak note following weak global cues.

SGX Nifty:

Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the Nifty could slide 109 points at the opening bell.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday asked banks and NBFCs to roll out loan restructuring scheme for COVID-19 related stress by September 15 and provide adequate support to the borrowers following the lifting of moratorium on repayment of debts. The minister urged lenders to immediately put in place a board-approved policy for resolution at the review meeting with heads of scheduled commercial banks and NBFCs through video conferencing. The six months moratorium on payment of EMIs ended on August 31.

Global markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading lower on Friday following sharp declines on Wall Street overnight.

In US, stocks fell sharply on Thursday as technology-focused stocks lost strength. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 807.77 points, or 2.8%, to 28,292.73 for its biggest one-day decline since June 11. The S&P 500 slid 3.5% to 3,455.06 and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 5% to close at 11,458.10.

Apple shares fell 8% for their biggest one-day decline since March 16. Amazon and Netflix were both down more than 4% and Facebook slid 3.8%. Microsoft slipped 6.2%. Alphabet pulled back by 5.1%.

In economic data, the number of first-time filers for unemployment benefits totaled 881,000 for the week ending August 29, compared to 1.011 million in the prior week, the Labor Department said Thursday. US imports jumped nearly 11% in July, driving the trade gap up to $63.6 billion in the month, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.

Domestic markets:

Back home, benchmark indices ended a lackluster trading session with small losses on Thursday, dragged by private sector banks. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 95.09 points or 0.24% at 38,990.94. The Nifty 50 index slipped 7.55 points or 0.07% at 11,527.45.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 7.72 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 120.08 crore in the Indian equity market on 3 September 2020, provisional data showed.

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