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Indian shares will likely open higher on Friday, following five straight session of losses, although caution ahead of the results of the national election next week is expected to keep gains in check.

The Gift Nifty was trading at 22,682 points as of 07:53 a.m. IST, indicating the benchmark Nifty 50 will open higher than its previous close of 22,488.

India's elections, which began on April 19, will conclude on June 1 and votes will be counted on June 4. Investors are awaiting the exit polls, which project results after voting ends.

Also in focus will be India's fourth-domestic quarter GDP data due later in the day, where the economy is expected to have grown at a slower pace than the previous three months.

The Nifty and Sensex ended down for a fifth straight session on Thursday, and have fallen 2% so far this week. They are on track for their worst since March.

At least three analysts attributed the selling this week to some investors trimming their positions ahead of the election outcome.

Nervousness ahead of exit polls and weak global cues continue to dent sentiment, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Meanwhile, the adjustment in MSCI's Global Standard index, which tracks emerging market stocks, is due later in the day.

Most of the price action is baked in and Friday will be more of a liquidity event in the last thirty minutes, said Abhilash Pagaria, head of Nuvama Alternative and Quantitative Research.

Asian markets inched up, while Wall Street indices closed lower overnight, with investors eyeing a key inflation data in the U.S. for interest rate trajectory. [MKTS/GLOB]

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