The Indian benchmark indices may witness the flat opening on Friday also, the last trading day of this week, as US markets remained closed for Thanksgiving holidays and Eurozone pointed towards deepening recession with recent PMI flash data. The ongoing plunge in Indian rupee may also hamper the flow of funds into equity markets. The weakeness in markets also prevailed due to uncertainty over reforms in the economy as government met with much-expected uproar over FDI in retail in parliament on Thursday, indicating that it would face tough time in getting other bills approved.

On Thursday, the key domestic benchmarks notched up decent gains today with the Sensex gaining over 50 points as positive cues from Asian and European markets lifted sentiment.

The BSE SENSEX closed at 18,517.34, up by 56.96 points or by 0.31 per cent and the NSE Nifty ended at 5,627.75, up by 12.95 points or by 0.23 per cent.

The BSE Sensex touched intraday high of 18,567.68 and intraday low of 18,456.2. The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 5,643.35 and intraday low of 5,608.

Besides, Asian stock markets opened mostly higher on Friday amid reports that Eurozone member Cyprus has reached a hard-won bailout agreement with international lenders to support its troubled banks and pay its bills. This report also overshadowed the recent economic data that suggested that region was well settled into recession. The flash service sector PMI fell to 45.7 this month, its lowest reading since July 2009, the survey showed on Thursday.

Also, China’s manufacturing activity expanded for the first time in 13 months while US jobless claims fell sharply last week, lifting the outlook for the global economy, spurring demand for risky assets, pushing global stock markets higher.

Besides, shares of Hindustan Copper would be under watch today as government plans to sell 4 per cent stake in the company through auctions today. The base price has been fixed at Rs 155 per share.

Canara Bank could also witness some selling pressure as Fitch downgraded its Viability rating to BB+ citing higher risk concentration in the troubled infrastructure sector, including state electricity boards, and a weaker funding profile.

Also pharma stocks could see some movement today as reports said that Cabinet has cleared the long-pending National pharmaceutical Pricing policy, which is aimed at capping the prices of essential drugs including anti-diabetics, painkillers, anti-infectives and anti-cancer drugs, on the recommendations of a Group of Ministers’ ( GoM).