Markets Trade Lower On US-China Tensions

Indian stocks traded lower on Friday morning as global markets were down, after US President Donald Trump said he would be giving a news conference Friday regarding China. Most of the markets in Asia were lower, though only marginally.

US markets on Thursday retreated, following announcement of the news conference. The Sensex was trading with losses of 182 points, while the Nifty drifted lower by 47 points, after rallying almost 5 per cent in two trading sessions.

Banking stocks gave-up gains of the last few days and were all down. HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank were among the early losers.

Shares in tyre maker Ceat jumped more than 3 per cent after the company reported a 19.58 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 51.72 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2020.

Idea Vodafone saw good buying after reports that google was said to be looking at a minority stake in the company. The stock jumped nearly 10 per cent in early trade and was locked at the upper end of the circuit filter.

Balkrishna Industries saw its share price dip, after the tyre maker said that revenue and profitability would be impacted in the June quarter, due to the lockdown.

Meanwhile, the rupee opened a tad big lower at 75.76 to the dollar.