Indian shares set to open lower on elevated oil prices; L&T, M&M results in focus
- GIFT Nifty futures were trading at 24,077 points
Indian shares are poised to open lower on Tuesday as a sharp rise in crude oil prices overnight weighs on investor sentiment, while earnings-linked stock-specific moves are also expected to remain in focus.
GIFT Nifty futures were trading at 24,077 points, as of 8:06 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 would open below Monday’s close of 24,119.30.
Other Asian stock markets fell 0.8%, while Wall Street equities settled lower overnight.
Brent crude rose to an intraday high of $115.3 a barrel on Monday after Iran stepped up attacks on the United Arab Emirates and ships in the Middle East Gulf, including several in the Strait of Hormuz.
While crude oil prices eased a bit to about $113 on Tuesday, they remain elevated. Higher crude prices are a negative for the world’s third-largest importer of the commodity, as they add to inflationary pressures and drag economic growth and corporate earnings.
Elevated crude oil prices are offsetting domestic positives, both on earnings and political clarity after state election outcomes, said two analysts.
Both the Nifty and Sensex rose about 0.5% on Monday, following the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal state and defeat for the INDIA bloc in Tamil Nadu.
The March-quarter results will be the key driver of stock-specific action in the next few sessions, analysts said.
Nifty 50 constituents Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra and Mahindra and Hero MotoCorp will release their quarterly earnings later in the day.
Foreign institutional investors (FII) turned net buyers of Indian stocks on Monday after nine straight sessions of selling, with inflows amounting to 28.36 billion rupees ($298 million).
Domestic institutional investors (DII) purchased local stocks worth 47.64 billion rupees on Monday in their seventh straight session of buying.