Indian shares to open near six-month lows as oil prices rise

Indian shares are likely to open little changed on Tuesday, after sliding to near six-month lows in the previous session, as oil prices extended their rise ​on continued Middle East supply worries due to the US-Iran conflict.

Brent crude ‌futures rose 1.34% to $106.7 a barrel. Higher oil prices are detrimental for India, the world’s third-largest importer of the commodity, as they risk stoking inflation, widening the import bill and squeezing growth ​and corporate margins.

GIFT Nifty futures were at 22,819.5 points as of 7:51 ​a.m. IST, indicating a muted start for the benchmark Nifty 50 index, ⁠which closed at 22,780.25 on Monday.

Global macroeconomic concerns have largely aggravated the pressure ​on markets, with the surge in Brent crude, persistent foreign selling and elevated US Treasury ​yields as the key overhangs, spurring risk-off sentiment, said Ajit Mishra, senior vice president of research at Religare Broking.

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth 53.53 billion rupees (about $558 million) on Monday, a four-week ​high. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth 51.89 billion rupees, as per provisional ​exchange data.

Adani, Tata firms in focus

Among stocks, Adani group companies will be in focus after the ‌country’s ⁠market regulator disposed of proceedings against the group chairman Gautam Adani and four group companies in a case regarding public-float violations.

The case concerned whether Adani companies met the 25% minimum public-shareholding rule and properly disclosed promoter-linked holdings. The Securities and Exchange Board of India ​imposed penalties of ​2 million rupees each ⁠on two individuals in the case for wrongful disclosures.

Tata group companies will be watched after Tata Trusts proposed merging two group companies ​with Tata Sons to prevent listing driven by India’s central ​bank.