Markets may open flat

The Indian benchmark indices on Thursday started the session on an optimistic note and, thereafter, the indices extended their upmove in the first half of the trading session. However, in the second half of the trading session, severe selling pressure emerged and indices lost entire gains. The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index, Nifty slipped about 4 points to settle below the important psychological 9650-mark, while the Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index, or Sensex, gained about 7 points to settle at 31,291. 

The European markets ended Thursday's session on a mixed note. The DAX of Germany climbed 0.15 per cent and the CAC 40 of France rose 0.15 per cent. The FTSE 100 of the UK declined 0.11 per cent. 

The US stocks mostly finished lower on Thursday, the S&P 500 and the Dow closed lower for a third session in a row, whereas the tech-heavy Nasdaq bucked the trend to close at 6,237 with gains of 3 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 13 points to end at 21,397. The S&P 500 shed 1 point to close at 2,435
 
Asian shares are trading mixed in early trade on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 has slipped 2 points; Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has gained 56 points, while China’s Shanghai Composite has shed 7 points.
 
At 8:00 am, SGX Nifty was trading with minor loss of 2 points at 9,634, indicating a tepid start for Indian bourses.