Indian equity benchmarks eye muted start on persistent foreign outflows

India’s equity benchmarks are likely to open little changed on Tuesday, as investors remained cautious amid concerns over foreign fund flows and thin year-end volumes.

The Gift Nifty futures were trading at 25,927 points, as of 8:02 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 would open near Monday’s close of 25,942.1.

The Nifty has lost 0.9% in three sessions, while the Sensex dropped 1% in four sessions due to profit-taking in a thin year-end market due to Christmas and New Year holidays.

Foreign investors net sold Indian shares worth 27.6 billion rupees ($307.02 million) on Monday, as per provisional data. This would be their biggest single-day selling in India in about three weeks.

Asian stocks were little changed on the day, while precious metals retreated sharply on Monday as investors booked profits after recent rallies.