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 Indian shares are set to open lower on Friday, tracking Asian peers, on reports of an escalation in geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

India's GIFT Nifty was trading at 21,670 as of 8:02 a.m. IST, indicating that the Nifty 50 will open below its Thursday's close of 21,995.85.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares slipped more than 2% and U.S. stock futures also pointed 1.3% lower following media reports that Israeli missiles had hit a site in Iran. [MKTS/GLOB]

Indian markets fell for a fourth straight session on Thursday, their longest daily losing streak in six months. The benchmark Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex have lost about 3.3% each in the last four sessions.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold a net 42.60 billion rupees (about $509 million) worth of Indian stocks on Thursday. They offloaded 157.63 billion rupees of shares in the previous three sessions.

Domestic institutional investors have been net buyers for seven sessions in a row.

Volatility in domestic equities rose to a one-month high on Thursday. Analysts expect volatility to remain elevated ahead of national elections, starting on Friday. The results of the elections will be announced on June 4.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

** Infosys: Software services company forecasted annual revenue below expectations after reporting March quarter revenue that missed analyst estimates.

** Bajaj Auto: The company reported better-than-expected March quarter profit, helped by strong domestic demand and a recovery in two-wheeler exports.

** ITC: The company entered a share purchase agreement to buy 100% share capital of Blazeclan Technologies for 4.85 billion rupees.

** Key earnings today: Wipro, Jio Financial Services