Market outlook: Sensex, Nifty may open flat

SGX Nifty: Trading of Nifty 50 index futures on the Singapore stock exchange indicates that the BSE Sensex and NSE may open flat with negative bias on Friday. Overseas, Asian stocks traded largely lower as investors reacted to the release of Chinese economic data.

China’s gross domestic product surged 18.3% in the first three months of the year from a year ago, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics said Friday. The surge in growth comes off a contraction in the first quarter of last year, when the economy shrank by 6.8% during the height of the domestic outbreak of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, China’s retail sales jumped 34.2% in March. Industrial production rose 14.1% in March.

In US, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indices hit record highs on Thursday, as upbeat earnings reports from companies including Bank of America and BlackRock as well as a strong rebound in March retail sales bolstered hopes of a broader economic rebound.

Retail sales surged 9.8% in March as additional stimulus sent consumer spending soaring, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. A separate report on Thursday showed that first-time filings for unemployment insurance dropped to the lowest level since March 2020. The Labor Department reported 576,000 new jobless claims for the week ended April 10.

Domestic markets:

Back home, key equity barometers reversed intraday losses and ended with decent gains on Thursday. Trading was volatile as rising COVID-19 cases continue to spook investors. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 259.62 points or 0.53% to 48,803.68. The Nifty 50 index added 76.65 points or 0.53% to close at 14,581.45.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 979.70 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 526.63 crore in the Indian equity market on 15 April, provisional data showed.

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