India stock benchmarks set for muted start as foreign selling, firm crude weigh
India's equity benchmarks are likely to open little changed on Wednesday, with persistent foreign outflows and firm crude oil prices offsetting optimism around steady corporate earnings growth.
Gift Nifty futures were trading at 25,752.5 points as of 7:14 a.m. IST, indicating that the Nifty 50 could open near Tuesday's close of 25,732.3.
The Nifty and BSE Sensex have declined in six of the past seven sessions, losing 2.3% and 2.5%, respectively, amid concerns over U.S. tariffs and heightened geopolitical tensions.
India and the United States held talks on trade, critical minerals and energy on Tuesday, India's foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said.
Washington has imposed tariffs of up to 50% on Indian goods, among the highest levied on any U.S. trading partner, with about half linked to New Delhi's purchase of Russian oil.
Foreign investors net sold Indian equities worth 15 billion rupees ($166 million) on Tuesday, per provisional data. They have offloaded $2.07 billion worth of shares in January, following record outflows in 2025.
Global risk sentiment weakened after U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iranian protesters to "take over" institutions, saying "help is on its way", pushing safe-haven gold to fresh record highs.
Oil prices rose more than 2% on Tuesday to a seven-week high as concerns over potential disruptions to Iranian crude exports overshadowed the prospect of increased supply from Venezuela. Prices eased 0.3% on the day. [O/R]
Higher oil prices negatively impact importers of the commodity, such as India.
STOCKS TO WATCH
** ICICI Lombard General Insurance reports lower third-quarter profit, as higher payouts to agents and employees outweighed strong demand in retail health and motor insurance.
** Engineering research and development (ER&D) firm Tata Elxsi's profit drops 45.3% in the third quarter, primarily due to a one-time charge tied to the country's new labour codes.
** Local search engine platform Just Dial reports lower profit for the December quarter, driven by a drop in unique visitors to its platform.
($1 = 90.3430 Indian rupees)
