Indian shares look set to open lower on Friday amid fresh geopolitical worries after North Korea's foreign minister warned the country could test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's latest threat to destroy the rogue nation.
Asian stocks are broadly lower while safe-haven assets such as the Japanese yen, Swiss franc and gold gained ground following the latest twist in tensions between the United States and North Korea.
Investors are also digesting a downgrade to China's credit rating by S&P Global Ratings ahead of a critical party congress meeting coming up in October.
U.S. stocks fell slightly overnight, dragged down by technology, healthcare and consumer staple companies.
The Dow dropped 0.2 percent to snap a nine-day winning streak, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite shed half a percent and the S&P 500 eased 0.3 percent.
European markets eked out modest gains on Thursday as banks benefited from a hawkish policy statement from the Federal Reserve as well as media reports suggesting that UniCredit is interested in combining with Commerzbank.
The pan-European Stoxx Europe 600 index rose 0.2 percent to end at 382.88, its highest level since July 20. The German DAX rose 0.3 percent and France's CAC 40 index gained half a percent while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 edged down 0.1 percent.
Closer home, benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty ended marginally lower on Thursday, bond yields rose and the rupee closed near a three-month low against the dollar following resolutely hawkish signals from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
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