Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 345.95 points, or 1.11 per cent overnight.
Indian equity benchmarks are set to stage a gap down opening on Friday as indicated by the Nifty futures traded on Singapore Exchange amid weak global cues. Singapore Nifty futures also known as the SGX Nifty fell 135 points or 0.9 per cent to 14,935. Meanwhile, other Asian markets were also trading lower following slump in US markets overnight. Japan’s Nikkei dropped 1.4 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.74 per cent and South Korea’s KOSPI dropped 0.85 per cent.
Overnight, Wall Street slumped on Thursday and global stock markets declined after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell repeated his pledge to keep credit flowing until Americans are back to work, rebutting investors who have openly doubted he can stick to that promise once the pandemic passes.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 345.95 points, or 1.11 per cent, to 30,924.14, the S&P 500 lost 51.25 points, or 1.34 per cent, to 3,768.47 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 274.28 points, or 2.11 per cent, to 12,723.47.
Back home, foreign institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 223 crore on Thursday and domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 788 crore.
Wipro will be in focus today after the company said it would buy British consultancy Capco for $1.45 billion in cash, as the software giant looks to boost its offerings for the financial services industry that generates the bulk of its revenue. London-based Capco makes 96 per cent of its revenue from Europe and North America, from where Indian IT services companies have traditionally won the most lucrative contracts.
Heranba Industries, which raised Rs 625 crore via initial public offering, will make its market debut later in the day.