Indian shares set for muted open
Indian shares are likely to open little changed on Wednesday, as investors await fresh triggers amid continuing foreign outflows.
The Gift Nifty was trading at 25,039, as of 8:12 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 will open near Tuesday's closing levels of 25,057.35.
The Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex indexes slipped 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively, on Tuesday, dragged by losses in heavyweight Reliance Industries after its quarterly profit dropped, while the prospect of a delayed domestic rate cut dampened overall sentiment.
Nifty constituent Bajaj Auto is due to report its quarterly earnings later in the day.
Asian peers outside Japan fell on the day, joining Wall Street peers from overnight, dragged by a slide in chip stocks after disappointing earnings from Europe's biggest tech firm ASML. [MKTS/GLOB]
Meanwhile, oil prices steadied slightly on Wednesday after sliding as much as $5 this week on demand concerns. [O/R]
A fall in oil prices is positive for India, the world's third-largest oil importer, as the commodity makes up a significant part of the country's import bill.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded a net 17.49 billion rupees ($208 million) worth of stocks on Tuesday, and were net sellers for the twelfth straight session, as they directed flows to China after Beijing announced stimulus measures.
As of Tuesday, foreign outflows from Indian equities in October had totalled $7.9 billion.
Meanwhile, Hyundai India's record $3.3 billion IPO was subscribed 18% on the first day of bidding on Tuesday. The share sale will end on Thursday.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
Cochin Shipyard: Shipbuilder said that the Indian government will sell up to 5% stake in the company.
Central Bank of India: Competition Commission of India approved lender's 25.18% stake buy in Future Generali India Life Insurance.
Power Grid Corporation: Utility firm acquired three special purpose vehicles - South Olpad, Jam Khambhaliya and Rajasthan IV H1.
($1 = 84.0510 Indian rupees)
