Market to open flat

The Indian benchmark indices on Thursday started the session on a lacklustre note and as the day progressed hefty bouts of profit booking dragged the Nifty index below the important psychological 9,600 mark and ended the session near day’s low. To end with, the NSE's 50-share broadly followed the index Nifty ended at 9,578 down 40 points, while Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index-Sensex settled at 31,075 down 80 points.  

The European markets ended Thursday's session on a dismal note, adding to the losses of the previous session. The Bank of England decided to leave its record low interest rate unchanged on Thursday, but the split among policymakers widened as more members sought a hike, citing the rising inflation. The DAX of Germany dropped 0.89 per cent and the CAC 40 of France fell 0.50 per cent. The FTSE 100 of the U.K. declined 0.74 per cent.

U.S. Stocks mostly ended lower on Thursday; however, it regained ground after an early move to the downside, but remained stuck in the negative territory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 15 points to 21,360. The S&P 500 dipped 5 points to finish at 2,432. The Nasdaq Composite Index slipped 29 points to close at 6,166.
 
Most of the Asian shares are trading with a positive sentiments in early trade on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 has gained 105 points; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has surged by 100 points, while China’s Shanghai Composite has slipped 8 points.
 
At 8:19 am, SGX Nifty Index trading with marginal gains of 6.50 points at 9,606, indicating a flat start for Indian indices.