BENGALURU (Reuters) – India’s benchmark Nifty 50 index is set for a muted open on Friday, with focus on information technology stocks after top companies TCS and Infosys flagged weak client spending in their quarterly results.
India’s GIFT Nifty was trading at 21,720.50 as of 8:18 a.m. IST, suggesting the NSE Nifty 50 will open near its close of 21,647.20 on Thursday.
Wall Street equities closed little changed overnight after data showed that headline CPI rose above estimates at 0.3% in December, for an annual gain of 3.4%. Asian equities opened marginally higher. [MKTS/GLOB]
Indian IT companies, which earn a significant share of revenue from the U.S., will be in focus after Tata Consultancy Services flagged demand uncertainty for the next two quarters on persistent U.S. inflation and recession concerns.
Infosys also tightened its revenue forecast for fiscal 2024 to 1.5%-2% from 1%-2.5% earlier, and flagged weakness in client spending.
The Nifty and Sensex have dropped 0.29% and 0.42% respectively in the week so far. If losses hold, the benchmarks will slip for the second week in a row after a sharp rally in the last two months.
Investors will also look to domestic inflation print, due post market hours. India’s inflation likely rose in December but remained within the central bank’s target range, the data is expected to show.
Elevated inflation due to high food prices could keep the Reserve Bank on India on an extended rate pause and weigh on rate-sensitive sectors like consumer, real estate, and auto.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
** Mahindra & Mahindra: Company approved an investment of 6.30 billion Indian rupees ($75.84 million) in Mahindra Electric Automobile.
** Life Insurance Corporation of India: Company received two tax demand orders worth 35.29 billion rupees from Mumbai tax authorities.
** HG Infra Engineering: Company declared lowest bidder by Central Railway in a project worth 7.16 billion rupees.
** Major earnings: HCLTech, Wipro, HDFC Life Insurance Company.
($1 = 83.0750 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)
