The Nifty futures on the Singapore Exchange were off 6 points, at 5558.

The election results in the state of West Bengal, Kerala, Taminal Nadu, Puducherry and Assam on Friday may set the tone for the market as it will determine the strength of the ruling party Congress and allies.

Furthermore State Bank of India, country’s largest bank raised deposit and lending rates steeper than any other bank by 75 bps may also weigh on the markets.

Across Asia markets were trading mostly higher on expectations that Chinese inflation data may show some moderation and Japanese shares posting gains after better than expected results.

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average was up 0.5% led by technology shares after Microsoft announced to buy Internet phone service provider Skype for $8.5 billion and upbeat results posted by internet service provider NEC Corporation.

Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite were trading marginally lower, down 0.5% and 0.2% after opening higher this morning. South Korea's Kospi Composite gained and Strait Times gained 0.4% each and Taiwan's weighted index was up 0.2%.

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