Domestic equity markets are likely to open on a higher note on Friday, as indicated by the SGX Nifty futures traded on the Singapore Exchange. Ahead of the opening of the capital markets in India, the SGX Nifty futures were last seen trading 36.50 points - or 0.31 per cent - higher at 11,638.50. The Singapore Exchange Nifty futures are an early indicator of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty in India. On Thursday, the Sensex and Nifty ended 0.81 per cent and 0.78 per cent lower respectively, snapping a three-day winning streak.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers in the capital markets, pulling out Rs 1,404.86 crore worth of funds on Thursday, provisional data from the NSE showed.

Meanwhile, equities in other Asian markets gained and the dollar sagged after a top Federal Reserve official all but cemented expectations of a US interest rate cut later this month.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 per cent, squaring the previous day's losses.

Australian stocks added 0.4 per cent, South Korea's KOSPI rose 0.8 per cent and Japan's Nikkei advanced 1 per cent.

New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said on Thursday that policymakers need to add stimulus early to deal with too-low inflation when interest rates are near zero and cannot wait for economic disaster to unfold, in a speech read as a strong argument in favour of quick action.

The comments made it a virtual certainty the US central bank would opt to cut interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) at its July 30-31 policy meeting and also fuelled expectations of an even deeper 50 basis points reduction.

(With inputs from Reuters)