Sensex opens flat as Asian markets surge and Wall Street declines, FTSE 100 lower

All three major US indexes declined sharply in early trading after a bomb blast in Kabul

Despite overnight losses at the Wall Street, Asian markets, except Japa, surge higher (AP)

The Indian benchmarks are trading flat on Friday following mixed cues from global markets as investors await the Fed remark for direction.

The BSE Sensex opened just 0.1 per cent higher, while the Nifty 50 opened at 16,642, just five points ahead.

Asian markets on Friday traded higher, unaffected by losses at the Wall Street overnight and Kabul chaos, however, all eyes remain on Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks at the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole gathering. Chinese, Hong Kong and South Korean markets all traded in the green, while Japan’s Nikkei opened deep in the red and continued to trade with losses.

Wall Street fell on Thursday on fears of a faster tapering of the Federal Reserve’s bond purchase program, although gains in banks and some strong earnings reports helped cap losses.

All three major US indexes had declined sharply in early trading after a bomb blast in Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul briefly rattled sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated by 0.5 per cent, Nasdaq Composite lost 0.6 per cent and S&P 500 also slid 0.5 per cent.

London’s FTSE 100 fell on Thursday, dragged down by heavyweight mining and financial stocks, as investors weighed risks from rising global Covid-19 infections and supply chain disruptions.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended 0.4 per cent lower, snapping a four-day winning streak, with Rio Tinto, BHP Group, Anglo American and Polymetal International being among the top drags.

The domestically focussed mid-cap index eased 0.1 per cent after scaling record highs in the previous session, with travel-related stocks leading the decline.

Additional reporting by agencies