BENGALURU: Indian shares are set to open higher on Thursday, tracking Asian peers, following a drop in oil prices to their lowest levels in more than three months.

India’s GIFT Nifty was up 0.24% at 19,528.50 as of 8:05 a.m. IST, over 80 points above the benchmark Nifty 50’s Wednesday close of 19,443.50.

Most Wall Street equities rose overnight, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite logging their longest winning streak in two years.

Asian markets advanced, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index adding 0.22%.

Brent crude futures fell more than 2% on Wednesday to $79.20 per barrel, their lowest since mid-July, on concerns over waning demand in China. Brent crude hovered around $80 per barrel in Asia hours.

A fall in oil prices is positive for importers of the commodity, like India.

Analysts said the benchmark Nifty 50 could consolidate near the current levels for a few sessions after a recovery after the US Federal Reserve’s rate pause on Nov. 1.

The Nifty 50 rose in four of the last five sessions since the Fed decision, adding nearly 2.4%.

Energy stocks led gains in the previous session, supported by the moderation in oil prices, while financials and information technology (IT) snapped their four-session rally.

Indian shares take a pause after a three-day rally

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) remained net sellers on Wednesday, extending their selling streak to the 11th session, offloading 845.50 million rupees ($10.16 million) of shares on a net basis.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth 5.24 billion rupees.

DIIs have purchased domestic shares in each of the last 17 sessions.