Indian shares may follow U.S. and Asian peers higher on Friday after German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated her commitment to support ECB's efforts for tackling Europe's unresolved debt crisis.
Also, adding to positive sentiment, global equity indices compiler MSCI has increased India's weight on its Emerging Market Index marginally to 6.4 percent from 6.3 percent, while reducing individual weights of some bluechip stocks in the index.
Meanwhile, market regulator SEBI has announced a slew of measures governing MFs, IPOs and fund distributors to help increase retail investor participation in the initial public offerings and the mutual fund industry.
Indian shares edged lower on Thursday, as weakness in FMCG, metal and banking stocks overshadowed gains in Reliance Industries, capital goods and auto stocks. The benchmark 30-share Sensex moved in a narrow range before ending down 71 points or 0.4 percent at 17,657, while the broader Nifty index fell by 17 points or 0.32 percent to 5,363.
According to provisional data released by BSE, foreign institutional investors continued to remain net buyers in Indian equities and bought shares worth Rs.95.01 crore yesterday, while domestic financial institutions purchased shares worth Rs.225.30 crore.
Corporate News
Maruti Suzuki India announced that it would lift the lock-out at its Manesar plant on August 21.
Retailers and aviation companies could be in focus after Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma hinted at opening up of multi-brand retail and civil aviation to foreign investment in the next three weeks.
The National Stock Exchange of India announced that it would include Birla group firm UltraTech and pharmaceutical firm Lupin in place of steel giant SAIL in the benchmark index Nifty with effect from September 28.
Three CAG reports on coal block allocations, ultra mega power projects and the privatization of the Delhi airport are expected to be tabled in Parliament today.
Asian Markets
Asian markets are trading mostly higher, albeit posting modest gains following a mixed report on the U.S. housing market.
U.S. And European Markets
U.S. stocks broke sideways movement to end mostly higher overnight, as investors cheered Cisco's better than expected quarterly results and remarks by German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Germany was committed to do what it could do to maintain the euro.
Traders also digested another mixed batch of U.S. economic data, including a report from the Commerce Department showing a drop in housing starts but a substantial increase in building permits. The Dow and the S&P 500 rose about 0.7 percent each, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained a percent.
European stocks also closed higher on Thursday amid speculation Spain is moving closer to receiving aid from the European Central Bank. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged up marginally, while the German DAX and France's CAC 40 rose 0.7 percent and 0.9 percent, respectively.
Crude
U.S. crude oil futures extended gains to a third consecutive day on Thursday, with supply concerns amid continued tension in the Middle East and a weak dollar contributing to the rally. Crude for September delivery gained $1.27 or 1.4 percent to close at $95.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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