BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares are set to open marginally lower on Wednesday, tracking slide in Asian peers on data from major economies around the world that fuelled worries over global growth and rise in oil prices.
India’s GIFT Nifty on the NSE International Exchange was down 0.06% at 19,658 at 8:00 a.m. IST.
Asian markets declined, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index falling 0.58% after data showed on Tuesday that China’s services activity expanded at the slowest pace in eight months in August, spurring concerns over growth in world’s second-largest economy.
Data from the euro zone and Britain also showed a slide in business activity in August.
Wall Street equities closed lower overnight after data showed a lower-than-expected fall in U.S. factory orders in July and comments from a Federal Reserve official suggesting scope for the U.S. central bank to raise rates further, if necessary.[MKTS/GLOB]
Adding to the concerns is the rise in oil prices. Brent crude futures crossed the $90-mark for the first time since November 2022 on concerns over supply shortage after Saudi Arabia and Russia extended their voluntary outputs cuts to the end of the year.
The rise in oil prices is a negative for importers such as India, where crude constitutes the bulk of the country’s import bill. [O/R]
India’s blue-chips, the Nifty 50 and the Sensex, extended gains for the third session in a row on Tuesday.
The more domestically focussed small-caps and mid-caps outperformed the blue-chips and hit fresh record highs, aided by robust retail inflows.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth 17.25 billion rupees ($207.66 million) on a net basis on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth 10.78 billion rupees, according to stock exchange data.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
** Jio Financial Services: Company’s shares to be removed from Nifty 50 and other NSE indexes from Thursday as the stock has not hit price band on two consecutive sessions on Monday and Tuesday.
** Power Grid Corporation of India: Co declared as successful bidder to establish inter-state transmission system project.
** NBCC: Co signs MoU with Kerala State Housing Board for work order worth 20 billion rupees.
** Vedanta: Zambia agrees to hand disputed copper assets back to the company; the min assets have reserves of 16 million tonnes of contained copper.
($1 = 83.0700 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
