India on Thursday night upped the ante against China by restricting bidders from countries with which it shares land border from participating in tenders for government procurement without approval from competent authorities on the ground of defence and national security. Photo: Reuters

Markets may be weak on global cues; Reliance, ITC shares in focus

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  • The euro on Friday celebrated a 21-month peak against an embattled dollar and gold neared its highest on record
  • Asian Paints, Zee Entertainment, ITC, JSW Steel, Ambuja Cement will announce their June quarter earnings today

MUMBAI: Markets are likely to be under pressure on Friday following global cues. Trends in SGX Nifty also suggest a negative opening of Indian benchmark indices. On Thursday, the BSE Sensex ended at 38,140.47, up 268.95 points or 0.7% and the Nifty closed at 11,215.45, up 82.85 or 0.7%.

Asian markets were mostly lower on Friday due to worsening US-China tensions and a selloff in US markets overnight.

Reliance shares are likely to be in focus once again as media reports suggest that Amazon.com Inc is in talks to buy a 9.9% stake in the retail arm of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd.

India on Thursday night upped the ante against China by restricting bidders from countries with which it shares land border from participating in tenders for government procurement without approval from competent authorities on the ground of defence and national security.

Concerted efforts by India to strengthen the business climate and encourage investment in the trade have helped to attract investment, but the country needs further economic reforms to ensure sustainable and more inclusive growth, the IMF said.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has sought modification in an interim order observing that the regulator’s enquiry in the Vodafone Idea Ltd’s RedX premium plan had started on Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd complaints.

Among major companies, Asian Paints, Zee Entertainment, ITC, JSW Steel, Ambuja Cement will announce their June quarter earnings on Friday.

Financial markets greeted Friday with a number of milestones as the euro celebrated a 21-month peak against an embattled dollar and gold neared its highest on record.

For once, currencies have dominated trading as a deal on a European Union recovery plan shot the euro to its highest since late 2018. The single currency was last standing tall at $1.1616, having climbed 1.7% for the week so far.

Over in bond markets the ocean of liquidity provided by global central banks are keeping prices buoyed so that yields on 10-year US paper enjoyed their lowest close since mid-April at 0.5774% and the whole yield curve flattened.

The precious metal was last at $1,1886 an ounce having climbed 4.2% so far this week to its highest since September 2011. That put it within striking distance of the all-time peak at $1,920.

(Reuters contributed to the story)