Indian shares set to open lower on elevated oil prices; L&T, M&M results in focus

Indian shares are poised to open lower on Tuesday as a sharp rise in crude oil prices overnight weighs on investor sentiment, while earnings-linked stock-specific moves ​are also expected to remain in focus.

GIFT Nifty futures were trading ‌at 24,077 points, as of 8:06 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 would open below Monday’s close of 24,119.30.

Other Asian stock markets fell 0.8%, while Wall Street equities settled lower ​overnight.

Brent crude rose to an intraday high of $115.3 a barrel on Monday ​after Iran stepped up attacks on the United Arab Emirates and ships ⁠in the Middle East Gulf, including several in the Strait of Hormuz.

While crude oil ​prices eased a bit to about $113 on Tuesday, they remain elevated. Higher crude prices are ​a negative for the world’s third-largest importer of the commodity, as they add to inflationary pressures and drag economic growth and corporate earnings.

Elevated crude oil prices are offsetting domestic positives, both on ​earnings and political clarity after state election outcomes, said two analysts.

Both the Nifty ​and Sensex rose about 0.5% on Monday, following the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in ‌West Bengal ⁠state and defeat for the INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu.

The March-quarter results will be the key driver of stock-specific action in the next few sessions, analysts said.

Nifty 50 constituents Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra and Mahindra and Hero MotoCorp will release their quarterly ​earnings later in the ​day.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) ⁠turned net buyers of Indian stocks on Monday after nine straight sessions of selling, with inflows amounting to 28.36 billion rupees ($298 ​million).

Domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased local stocks worth 47.64 billion rupees ​on Monday ⁠in their seventh straight session of buying.