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Markets are likely to open flat while overnight losses on Wall Street and subdued Asian markets is likely to cap upside gains.
At 8:35AM, the early indicator SGX Nifty was up 10 points at 8,634.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in equities to the tune of Rs 1,429 crore while domestic institutions were net buyers worth Rs 53 crore on Thursday, as per provisional stock exchange data.
Most Asian markets were trading flat bias tracking losses on Wall Street after the US Federal Reserve signalled that the propects of an interest hike could be early as June. Nikkei, Straits Times and Shanghai Composite were trading 0.05-0.1% each while Hang Seng was trading flat with negative bias.
Major US share indices ended mixed on Thursday after the strengthening dollar led to profit taking in material shares while energy shares declined tracking losses in crude oil prices. The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 117 points at 17,959.03, the broader S&P 500 ended down 10 points at 2,089.27. However, the tech-laden Nasdaq ended 10 points higher at 4,992.38 led by biotech shares.
Stocks to Watch
Wipro may gain after the IT major won a 5-year deal from US-based utility company, Greater Cincinnati Water Works.
Indian Hotels could see some pressure after the New Delhi Municipal Council will decide othe lease of its New Delhi property Taj Mansingh Hotel which was earlier on lease for a period of 33 years.
Engineering major Larsen & Toubro could see some action on reports that the company's arm L&T Infrastructure Finance is planning to raise Rs 150 through issue of non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis.
Axis Bank may see some uptick after it reduced retail deposit rates by 15-25 basis points (bps) in select maturities. The bank has cut rates by 25 bps for deposits of 18 to 36 months and by 15 bps for deposits up to 18 months.
Zicom Electronic Security Systems may gain after the Reserve Bank of India on Thursday allowed Non-resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin to invest up to 24% of the paid-up capital of the company under the Portfolio Investment Scheme.
UPL may firm up after the company said it has entered into an agreement to subscribe to 40% Shares in Sinagro Group, a Brazilian Company in the State of Mato Grosso.
