Indian shares set for muted open as worries about US rate, Middle East linger

BENGALURU: Indian shares are set to open little changed on Thursday, after falling about 3% in the past three sessions, as fading hopes of early US rate cuts and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continue to weigh on investor sentiment.

India’s GIFT Nifty was trading at 22,178 as of 7:54 a.m. IST, indicating that the Nifty 50 will open near its Tuesday’s close of 22,147.50.

Indian markets were closed on Wednesday for a local holiday. The benchmark Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex have lost about 2.7% each in the last three sessions.

They had notched record closing highs on April 10. Wall Street equities closed lower overnight after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell declined to provide guidance on the timing and extent of expected interest rates, dimming hopes of early rate cuts in 2024.

Tensions in the Middle East remained high after Israel threatened retaliation against Iran for its weekend missile attack. Asian markets opened marginally higher.

Indian shares set to open lower on Middle East geopolitical woes

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold a net 44.68 billion rupees (about $535 million) worth of Indian stocks on Tuesday, after offloading 112.95 billion rupees of shares in the previous two sessions.

Domestic institutional investors have been net buyers for six sessions in a row.