Indian shares set to open lower tracking Asian peers
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India's blue-chips are set for a lower open on Monday, in line with Asian peers, as the widening conflict in the Middle East roiled sentiment, while market reaction to the quarterly results of major private lenders is awaited.
India's GIFT Nifty was up 0.27% at 19,479.50, higher than its previous close, as of 8:11 a.m. IST, but lower than the Nifty 50 close on Friday of 19,524.65.
Asian markets are down 0.5%, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas intensified and hurt sentiment. The U.S. has warned of a significant risk to its interests in the Middle East. [MKTS/GLOB]
Meanwhile, Brent crude futures eased on Monday to $91.50 per barrel, after hovering above $93 in the previous session. Rising oil prices is a negative for importers of the commodity like India. [O/R]
Banks will be in focus after major private lenders, including ICICI Bank, posted their September-quarter earnings over the weekend.
ICICI Bank beat its quarterly estimates, posting a nearly 36% jump in net profit, aided by robust lending income and loan growth.
Kotak Mahindra Bank posted a 24% rise in quarterly profit, in-line with estimates. The lender also got the Reserve Bank of India's nod to appoint veteran banker Ashok Vaswani as managing director and chief executive.
The appointment, subject to shareholders' approval, is for three years after Vaswani begins his term, which will not be later than January 1, 2024, the bank said in an exchange filing on Saturday.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought 4.56 billion rupees ($54.84 million) worth of shares on a net basis on Friday. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also purchased shares worth a net 85.3 million rupees.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
** Paytm: Co reports an operating profit for the fourth consecutive time in September quarter. Consolidated net losses nearly halves to 2.91 billion rupees, from 5.71 billion rupees year-on-year.
** Ipca Labs: Co's manufacturing facility in Madhya Pradesh has been classified for Voluntary Action Indicated (VAI) by U.S. drug regulator. The facility is considered to be in a minimally acceptable state of compliance to good manufacturing practice.
** RBL Bank: Private lender posts rise in net profit in September quarter.
