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Indian shares look set to open lower on Friday, with a spike in global bond yields and concerns over a continued surge in coronavirus<\/span> cases in the country likely to keep underlying sentiment cautious.<\/p>\n According to reports, India has seen the sharpest surge in Covid-19 infections in at least the last 10 months over the past five days. <\/p>\n Financials could be in focus after the Rajya Sabha passed the bill to hike foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector to 74 percent from current 49 percent.<\/p>\n Energy stocks may also see increased activity as oil extended a dramatic rout, declining for a sixth day to trade below $60 a barrel.<\/p>\n Oil prices rose slightly in Asian trade, but were still down more than 8 percent for the week as reports showing a surge in coronavirus cases in several countries in Europe and fears of fresh lockdown measures raised concerns about energy demand.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, it is feared that rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia could result in the latter increasing its oil output.<\/p>\n Benchmark indexes Sensex and the Nifty fell over 1 percent on Thursday to extend losses for the fifth day, while the rupee ended marginally higher at 72.53 against the U.S. dollar.<\/p>\n Asian markets<\/span> drifted lower this morning and gold extended losses, while the safe-haven dollar strengthened again amid higher yields. <\/p>\n U.S. stocks fell overnight as oil prices recorded their biggest one-day drop since September and bond yields surged on expectations for faster economic recovery and inflation. <\/p>\n Economic reports proved to be a mixed bag. While U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly jumped to a one-month high due to the impact of Winter Storm Uri, a measure of regional manufacturing activity spiked to a nearly 50-year high. <\/p>\n The Dow dropped half a percent and the S&P 500 shed 1.5 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index plunged as much as 3 percent amid a sell-off in technology<\/span> stocks. <\/p>\n European stocks rose on Thursday after both the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England vowed to keep liquidity plentiful despite concerns around inflation. <\/p>\n The pan European Stoxx 600 gained 0.4 percent. The German DAX rallied 1.2 percent, France’s CAC 40 index inched up 0.1 percent and the U.K.’s FTSE 100 gained 0.3 percent. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Market Analysis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n