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 Indian shares are set to open marginally lower on Thursday, while traders anticipated a high likelihood of profit-booking on the day of monthly derivatives' expiry.

The GIFT Nifty was trading at 23,811.5 as of 07:56 a.m. IST, indicating that the Nifty 50 will open below Wednesday's close of 23,868.8.

The Nifty has gained about 1.6% in three sessions this week so far. Both the benchmarks have logged record closing highs for two sessions in a row.

The recent rally has pushed the immediate support levels for Nifty 50 to 23,650 from 23,500 earlier, said two traders, who expected a high likelihood of profit-booking at record levels ahead of the June series derivatives' expiry on Thursday.

The rise in the U.S. dollar overnight could also put pressure on metals, which have become expensive for holders of other currencies due to the strength in the greenback. [MET/L]

In global markets, Asian stocks opened lower on the day while Wall Street equities inched higher overnight. Investors await U.S. personal consumption expenditure data due on Friday, the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge of inflation, for cues on the timing of a rate cut. [MKTS/GLOB]

Foreign investors sold shares worth 35.35 billion rupees (about $423 million) worth of shares on a net basis on Wednesday, while domestic investors bought stocks worth a net 51.04 billion rupees, per exchange data.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

** Larsen and Toubro: The group is facing a shortage of over 45,000 workers and engineers in its various businesses, according to reports citing chairman SN Subrahmanyam.

** Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel: Jio Infocomm bought spectrum worth 9.74 billion rupees while Airtel purchased spectrum worth 68.57 billion rupees at the government auction that concluded on Wednesday.

** Sona BLW: Company gets certification for traction motors for electric two-wheelers under production linked incentives (PLI) scheme.

** ITD Cementation: Company wins new marine contract worth 10.82 billion rupees.

($1 = 83.5470 Indian rupees)