LIVE MARKET: Gap-up open on charts for Sensex, Nifty; Asian markets win

Live stock market updates: After falling more than 2% each the previous day, the Sensex and Nifty are expected to open higher on Friday, following gains in US stock futures and firm Asian markets.
Strong inflationary pressures continue to undermine investor confidence and strong corporate earnings prospects.
On Thursday, domestic retail price inflation for April hit an eight-year high of 7.8%, paving the way for further policy rate hikes by the central bank, even as factory output growth slows. remained lackluster at 1.9% in March.
That aside, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said on Thursday that the economy could suffer as the central bank raises interest rates to tame inflation that has been high for nearly 40 years.
He also reaffirmed likely interest rate hikes of half a percentage point each in his next two meetings, adding that the Fed could do more if needed.
Back home, among stocks SBI, Bank of Baroda, Tech M, Eicher Motors will be in focus ahead of their fourth quarter results. Investors will also react to the results of Tata Motors and L&T, announced on Thursday.
Global indices
In the United States, the Dow Jones fell 0.33%, the S&P 500 fell 0.13% and the Nasdaq closed up 0.06%.
Asian markets were up this morning. Hang Seng and Nikkei fell 1.8 and 2.4%, respectively. Strait Times and Kospi gained as much as 1.6%. Shanghai Composite and Shenzhen Component gained 0.97% and 0.7% respectively.
Brent Crude rose 1.4% to $104 a barrel and WTI rose 1.2% to $107 a barrel.