Indian shares seen muted on higher oil prices, weak Infosys forecast

Indian shares are set to open little changed on Friday, after falling in the last two sessions, while rising oil prices due to Middle East ​tensions and a weak revenue forecast from No. 2 software services ‌company Infosys weighed on sentiment.

GIFT Nifty futures were trading at 24,237 points, as of 7:41 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 would open near Thursday’s close of 24,173.05.

Both the ​benchmarks dropped about 1.7% each in the last two sessions as oil ​prices rose above $100 a barrel.

Brent crude hovered around $106 after Iran displayed its ⁠grip over the Strait of Hormuz with a video of its commandos storming ​a cargo ship following the collapse of peace negotiations and U.S. President Donald Trump’s ​indefinite extension of the ceasefire.

Reports of Iran’s air defenses engaging targets over Tehran, and of a struggle between Iran moderates and hardliners, also sent crude prices spiking.

Other Asian markets were muted, while ​Wall Street equities closed lower overnight.

Among stocks, Infosys will be in focus. Its ​U.S.-listed stocks fell 4% overnight after the IT company forecast annual revenue growth below market expectations due ‌to ⁠macroeconomic uncertainty and tepid client spending.

The outlook overshadowed better-than-expected fourth-quarter results.

“Market sentiment remains fragile and highly news-driven, with near-term direction likely to be influenced by geopolitical developments in the Middle East, movement in crude oil prices, and corporate earnings,” said Ponmudi ​R, chief executive at ​Enrich Money.

Foreign institutional ⁠investors (FII) remained net sellers of Indian stocks for the fourth session on Thursday, with outflows worth 32.55 billion Indian rupees. ​Domestic institutional investors’ (DII) inflows stood at 9.41 billion rupees ($100.00 million).