Indian shares set to open marginally higher; TCS in focus
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Indian shares are set to open marginally higher on Friday, with focus on IT stocks after Tata Consultancy Services kicked off the earnings season for local tech majors on a dour note as it reported a quarterly profit miss.
The Gift Nifty was trading at 25,102, as of 8:24 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 will open slightly above its close of 24,998.45 on Thursday.
India's benchmark index Nifty 50 has witnessed profit-booking over the past two weeks, logging losses in seven of nine sessions. The index has dropped 4.7% from record-high levels scaled on Sept. 27.
Domestic equities could open higher on the day, but a likely drop in IT stocks following a lower-than-expected quarterly profit from TCS, the country's top software company, and hotter-than-expected U.S. inflation reading are set to trigger profit-booking, said two traders.
The U.S.-listed shares of Indian IT companies Infosys and Wipro fell 2.66% and 2.34%, respectively, overnight.
Wall Street equities dropped after data showed U.S. consumer prices rose slightly more than expected in September.
Markets, however, are pricing in a 25-basis-point U.S. rate reduction in November, with weekly jobless claims showing a climb, which could prompt the Federal Reserve to opt for a cut to support labour market and economy.
Asian markets were trading marginally higher, ahead of China's fresh fiscal stimulus package expected to be unveiled over the weekend. [MKTS/GLOB]
Foreign institutional investors continue to sell Indian shares for a ninth consecutive session, offloading a net 652.33 billion rupees ($7.77 billion) of stocks over the period.
Domestic institutional investors, however, remained buyers for the 13th straight session on Thursday, cushioning foreign outflows.
STOCKS TO WATCH ** Tata Elxsi beats September-quarter profit estimates driven by transportation segment.
** IREDA posts rise in net profit in second quarter, gets government nod for setting up unit for retail business.
** Mazagon Dock gets order worth 1.22 billion rupees.
($1 = 83.9570 Indian rupees)
