BENGALURU: Indian shares are set to open slightly higher on Friday, after dropping more than 2% so far this week due to elevated volatility and relentless selling by foreign investors due to jitters over the result of the national elections.
The Gift Nifty was trading at 22,128.50 as of 8:10 a.m. IST, indicating that the Nifty 50 will open near Thursday’s close of 21,957.50.
Indian equities have largely moved out of sync with their global markets this week – MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe is up 1.4%, while the Nifty 50 index is down 2.3% – as foreigners take out money from equities.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have pulled $2 billion in May so far, including more than $800 million on Thursday, per provisional data provided by exchanges, amid nervousness that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party may not chalk up the landslide victory forecasted in opinion polls.
The results of the election are due on June 4.
Indian shares drop most in three months; L&T drags
“FIIs are playing safe and lightening their positions ahead of the subsequent phases of elections and vote count,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities. That pulled the Nifty 50 to a three-week low on Thursday, while volatility scaled to a 19-month high.
On the day, Asian stocks ex-Japan rose 0.4% on strong China trade data and Wall Street’s gains overnight as a higher-than-expected rise in US weekly jobless claims fuelled hopes of interest rate cuts.
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