Sensex is expected to remain under pressure Friday with investor confidence to be burdened by global cues.
On Thursday, U.S. stocks fell as investor sentiment was weighed down by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and continuing fears of the looming fiscal cliff. Market confidence turned negative as violence intensified in the Middle East following air strikes by Israel against Hamas in Gaza Strip raising concerns that there could more attacks in the coming days.
Investors will continue to the focus on the U.S. where developments on the fiscal cliff are being watched closely and the uncertainty on the matter will persist to put pressure on market sentiment.
Meanwhile, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department, the weekly jobless claims, measuring the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time, last week rose to 439,000 in the week ending Nov. 10, up from 355,000 in the previous week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.23 percent, the S&P 500 Index was down 0.16 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.35 percent.
European markets also fell Thursday as investor sentiment turned negative following Germany’s disappointing economic growth for the third quarter. According to data released Thursday by the Federal Statistics Office, Germany’s gross domestic product rose 0.2 percent in the third quarter, down from 0.3 percent in the previous three months.
“Although unsurprising, data in Europe confirmed that the region fell back into recession, an outcome that will do little to ease tensions,” Credit Agricole said in a note.
London's FTSE 100 was down 44.26 points, Germany's DAX 30 index fell 58.50 points and France's CAC 40 declined 17.62 points.
On Friday Japanese stocks gained on expectation that the country’s policymakers will soon announce more monetary easing measures to revive the economy and rejuvenate the growth momentum. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was up 1.88 percent or 166.19 points to 8995.91. Among major gainers were Mazda Motor Corp (7.08 percent), Nissan Motor Co Ltd (5.27 percent) and Honda Motor Co (3.6 percent).
