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 Indian shares will likely open higher on Monday, tracking gains in the broader Asian market, as mixed U.S. jobs data bolstered expectations that the Federal Reserve may skip an interest rate hike later this month.

India's NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were up 0.46% at 18,714.50, as of 7:34 a.m. IST.

Domestic benchmark indexes, the Nifty 50 and the S&P BSE Sensex, registered their second-straight weekly gain on Friday, lifted by stronger-than-expected economic growth data and fast-paced expansion of the country's factory output.

This week investors will closely watch the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy decision. The Indian central bank is expected to leave its key interest rate unchanged on June 8 and for the rest of 2023, a Reuters poll of economists showed.

On Monday, Asian shares extended a global rally on optimism the Fed would pause rate hikes this month after data showed that while the U.S. economy added 339,000 jobs last month, wage growth moderated and the unemployment rate rose. [MKTS/GLOB]

Another report showed U.S. manufacturing contracted for a seventh straight month in May.

The data, along with calls from Fed officials for a pause in the June 13-14 meeting, has driven bets for a rate hike lower..

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors sold 6.59 billion rupees ($80 million) worth of Indian equities on Friday, while domestic investors bought 5.82 billion rupees of shares on a net basis, as per provisional NSE data.

STOCKS TO WATCH

** Interglobe Aviation Ltd: Airbus is closing towards a potentially record deal to sell 500 narrow-body A320-family jets to the operator of IndiGo, India's largest airline carrier, industry sources said on Sunday.

** SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd: India's insurance regulator on Friday ordered the takeover of a unit of Sahara India Life Insurance by SBI Life Insurance, following the company's "continuous deterioration of financial position".

** Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Ltd: Co plans to raise about $200 million by selling a stake of up to 6% in its online platform, Chief Financial Officer Krishnan Akhileswaran said on Friday.

** Tata Motors Ltd: India's Tata Group signed an outline deal on Friday on building a lithium-ion cell factory, based on investment of about 130 billion rupees, as part of the nation's efforts to create its own electric vehicle supply chain.

$1 = 82.5077 Indian rupees