Pre-market: Sensex may see soft opening

Markets are likely to open on a soft note, mirroring cues from global peers.

US bourses ended in the negative zone on Thursday as fears of Saudi unrest dampened the economic outlook. The Dow slipped nearly 2% to end below the 12,000 mark. Nasdaq and S&P 500 dropped 1.8% each.

Asian markets were down as weak US economic data and unrest in Middle East made investors jittery. The Hang Seng shed 1% to 23,389. Nikkei slipped 0.8% to 10,347. Seoul Composite, Taiwan Weighted and Straits Times slipped 1% each.

Brent crude gained marginally to $115.65 per barrel.

SGX Nifty is pointing towards a lower opening. The index is down 43 points at 5,5465

Back home on Thursday, markets slipped on global cues, crude price worries and weakness in select sectors. The Sensex after a range bound session of trade ended at 18,322 - down 148 points.  Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty dropped 37 points to 5,494.

Markets will be looking towards the RBI policy review on March 17 and the fourth advance tax payment installment on March 15 for direction, now that the Union Budget is over.