Indian shares set to open lower, strong GDP data could cap losses
Indian shares are set to open lower on Thursday after snapping three straight sessions of gains, tracking Asian peers, while solid domestic growth data may limit losses.
India's NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were down 0.31% at 18,606, as of 8:02 a.m. IST.
Losses, however, may be capped as government data showed India's economic growth accelerated to 6.1% in the March quarter, expanding faster than the forecast of 5.0% by economists in a Reuters poll.
Indian benchmark indexes the Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex have registered gains for three straight months, adding over 2% each in May, helped by strong corporate earnings results and sustained foreign inflows into equities.
While U.S. labour department data showed persistent labour market strength, comments from two Fed policymakers indicated that they were not in favour of raising rates in June.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought 34.06 billion rupees worth of Indian equities on Wednesday, while domestic investors sold 25.29 billion rupees of shares on a net basis, as per provisional NSE data.
STOCKS TO WATCH
** Coal India Ltd: Indian government is proposing to sell up to a 3% stake in the state-owned miner for a floor price of 225 rupees a share.
** Adani Total Gas Ltd, Adani Transmission Ltd: MSCI says Adani Total Gas and Adani Transmission will be removed from the MSCI Global Standard Indexes effective June 1.
** United Drilling Tools Ltd: Co gets a work order worth 720 million rupees
($1 = 82.7159 Indian rupees)
