BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares were set to open higher on Tuesday, a day ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy decision, in which the central bank is expected to pause its tightening cycle after a rate hike of 25 basis points that the market has already baked in.
India’s NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were up 0.55% at 17,858 as of 8:00 a.m. IST.
Wall Street equities extended their fall overnight after data on Friday showed resilient U.S. jobs markets that heightened concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep rates higher for longer. [FEDWATCH]
Asian markets rebounded on Tuesday after a sharp slide in the previous session, with the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan adding 0.59%. [MKTS/GLOB]
The Reserve Bank of India is expected to raise the key policy repo rate by 25 bps at its next policy meeting on Feb. 8, marking the end of its tightening cycle. The RBI is expected to pause after the decision and wait for inflation to fall, in its bid to support economic growth.
The ongoing selloff in Adani group stocks, which has caused a rout of over $100 billion in market capitalisation after the U.S. short seller Hindenburg’s report on Jan. 24, could cap some gains.
The National Stock Exchange has revised circuit limits of Adani Green and Adani Transmission to 5% from 10%, according to official data, to prevent large movements in price of stocks in a very short time.
Meanwhile JP Morgan said that the group remained eligible for inclusion in some of its key indices.
Foreign institutional investors sold 12.18 billion Indian rupees ($147.24 million) worth of shares on a net basis on Monday. Foreign selling in Indian stocks hit a seven month high of $3.51 bln in January, data showed on Monday.
STOCKS TO WATCH
Tata Steel: Co reports loss in the third quarter dragged by soft demand.
LIC Housing Finance: Co reports slide in net profit in Q3 on higher costs.
Ultratech Cement: Co commissions brownfield cement grinding unit in Odisha.
Muthoot Finance: Co reports higher-than-expected rise in net profit in Q3 on higher gold prices.
($1 = 82.7220 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
