Indian shares set to inch higher as oil eases; IPO rush to cap upside

Indian shares are likely to open marginally higher on Friday, aided by a pullback in crude oil prices, although persistent geopolitical risks in the Middle East ​and heavy demand for domestic initial public offerings may cap upside.

India’s Tata group ‌stocks will also be in focus after Tata Sons reappointed N. Chandrasekaran as chairman and said it would consider a public listing, while shareholder Shapoorji Pallonji Group has proposed selling part of its stake.

GIFT ​Nifty futures were trading around 23,329.5 points, as of 8:30 a.m. IST, ​indicating a positive start for the benchmark Nifty 50 index, which closed at 23,270.60 ⁠on Thursday.

Brent crude was down 0.8% at $104 a barrel as hopes that alternative routes ​could keep Middle Eastern barrels flowing to global markets outweighed concerns over renewed strikes involving ​Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi forces.

Still, Brent remained elevated above $100 a barrel, fuelling inflation concerns for major oil importers such as India.

Higher energy costs could weigh on corporate margins, worsen the current-account outlook and ​complicate the Reserve Bank of India’s inflation management.

Five Indian IPOs are currently open for subscription, ​including the National Stock Exchange of India’s issue, which was subscribed 0.43 times on the first day ‌of bidding.

Traders ⁠said the rush of new offerings could divert liquidity away from secondary-market stocks and keep broader market gains contained.

The Nifty and Sensex are down 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively, so far this week, on course for a sixth consecutive weekly decline.

Separately, foreign ​institutional investors have been ​net sellers for ⁠seven straight sessions, with outflows of 32.09 billion rupees on Thursday. Domestic institutional investors countered the selling, buying shares worth 36.18 billion ​rupees, according to provisional NSE data.