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 Indian shares are set to open higher on Thursday, as sentiment improved on progress in debt ceiling negotiations in the United States, while investors also braced for quarterly earnings from several top corporates.

India's NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were up 0.18% at 18,265, as of 7:44 a.m. IST.

Wall Street equities closed higher overnight after U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican Party's House of Representatives speaker Kevin McCarthy vowed to avoid an economically catastrophic default. Asian markets also advanced. [MKTS/GLOB]

The Nifty 50 extended losses for a second straight session on Wednesday, amid profit booking after the recent rise. The benchmark has gained 4.74% in FY2024 so far, aided by a stable earnings season and sustained foreign buying in domestic equities.

"Heavy profit-booking persisted in recent sessions, casting a shadow over the market," said Prashanth Tapse, senior vice president (research) at Mehta Equities.

Analysts expect the benchmark to find support at 18,050 and resistance at 18,350 levels.

Despite the slide on Wednesday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their buying streak for the fifteenth session, adding 1.49 billion rupees worth of shares.

This is the longest daily buying streak since December 2020 by FIIs, who have bought nearly 226 billion rupees ($2.76 billion) worth of shares over the last 15 sessions, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

Investors also await quarterly results of companies including State Bank of India Ltd, ITC Ltd, GAIL (India) Ltd and Interglobe Aviation Ltd, scheduled for Thursday.

Stocks to Watch:

** HDFC Bank Ltd: RBI approves SBI Funds Management to buy up to 9.99% stake in the lender

** Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd: Co signs license agreement for 82-room property in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh

** JSW Steel Ltd: Co emerges as the preferred bidder for composite license of unexplored iron ore mine in Maharashtra

** REC Ltd: Co reports 33% Y/Y rise in March quarter profit

($1 = 81.7800 Indian rupees)