Indian shares set to open lower as banking concerns linger
Indian shares were set to open lower on Monday, amid persisting contagion risks in the global banking system, although the weekend rescue deal for Credit Suisse offered some relief.
India's NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were down 0.52% at 17,072.50 as of 8:08 a.m. IST.
The Nifty 50 fell nearly 2% last week, its biggest drop in nearly a month.
Over the weekend, UBS said it will buy Credit Suisse for 3 billion francs ($3.2 billion), and assume up to $5.4 billion in losses, in a deal engineered by Swiss authorities.
Soon after the announcement, U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and other major central banks came out with statements to reassure markets hurt by fears of contagion in banking. But investor sentiment remained fragile.
At least two major banks in Europe are examining scenarios of contagion and are looking to the Fed and the ECB for stronger signals of support, two senior executives close to the discussion told Reuters.
In the U.S., First Republic Bank had its credit rating pushed into junk status by S&P Global.
Market participants are keenly awaiting the Fed policy decision on Wednesday. Interest rate futures pricing implies about a 60% chance of a Fed rate hike. [FEDWATCH]
The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were down 0.74%. [MKTS/GLOB]
Foreign institutional investors (FII) extended their selling streak to a seventh straight session on Friday, selling a net 17.67 billion rupees ($214.13 million) worth of equities.
Stocks to Watch:
** Rail Vikas Nigam: Co emerges as lowest bidder for project worth 10.88 billion rupees
** Tata Consumer: Co drops acquisition talks with Bisleri
** Torrent Pharma: U.S. FDA issues Form 483 with one observation for co's Gujarat facility
** HDFC and HDFC Bank: National Company Law Tribunal approves merger between HDFC and HDFC Bank
($1 = 82.5200 Indian rupees)