Indian shares may open lower, tracking Asia
Indian shares are poised to edge lower at open on Tuesday, tracking weakness in Asian markets, with limited downside seen on the back of expectation the Federal Reserve may slow its pace of rate hikes.
India's NSE stock futures, listed on the Singapore exchange, were 0.26% lower as of 0222 GMT, while the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.52%.
The blue-chip Nifty 50 index had closed 0.88% higher at 17,730.75 in Monday's one-hour "muhurat" trading session to mark the festival of Diwali, while the S&P BSE Sensex advanced with a similar gain to 59,831.66.
Indian shares had gained for seven straight sessions.
However, in the one-hour of trade, shares of Yes Bank Ltd, ICICI BANK and Hindustan Unilever Ltd fell between 2.8% and 3.9%. In addition, foreign institutional investors sold a net 1.54 billion Indian rupees ($18.61 million) worth of equities on Monday, while domestic investors bought net 801.2 million rupees worth of shares, as per provisional data available with the National Stock Exchange.
Stocks to watch:
** Reliance Industries Ltd reported a flat profit for the second quarter on Friday, as export taxes on refined fuels and weak refining margins weighed down the dominant oil-to-chemical business at India's most valuable company.
** ICICI Bank, India's second-largest private-sector lender, reported a 37% rise in quarterly net profit on Saturday as loan growth inched up and provisions for bad loans fell.
** Kotak Mahindra Bank on Saturday reported a bigger-than-expected jump in net profit for the June-September quarter, lifted by strong loan growth.
** Yes Bank said on Saturday its profit fell in the July-September quarter as it set aside more provisions for bad loans recorded in previous quarters.
** India's SEBI capital market regulator has barred Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Company Ltd from the securities markets for two years after finding the firm, a sister company and several executives had misrepresented financial statements.
** Hindustan Unilever reported a bigger-than-expected rise in quarterly profit on Friday, as price increases for products such as Dove soap and Surf Excel detergent powder cushioned the blow from higher costs of raw materials.
** Vodafone Idea Ltd said it would issue debentures worth upto 16 billion Indian rupees ($193.37 million) to ATC Telecom Infrastructure Private Limited
($1 = 82.7440 Indian rupees)