BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares are set to open little changed on Friday, tracking a pause in the global equities’ rally ahead of the Federal Reserve Chair’s address, as they await confirmation of a U.S. rate cut in September.
The GIFT Nifty was trading at 24,841.5, as of 08:04 a.m. IST, indicating that the NSE Nifty 50 will open near its close of 24,811.5 on Thursday.
The benchmarks Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex logged gains for six sessions in a row, adding about 2.8% each, helped by rising bets of a U.S. rate cut in September and sustained domestic inflows.
While the short-term texture of Indian markets remains positive, we could see some profit booking on Friday, said two traders.
Selling on rallies would be the ideal strategy currently to benefit from the recent rise, which could keep the markets in a narrow range, they added.
Asian markets declined, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index shedding 0.5%. Wall Street equities closed lower overnight, as sentiment turned cautious ahead of Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole after India market hours on Friday.
Markets expect a rate cut in September on the back of recent economic data, the minutes of the Fed’s latest policy meeting and dovish commentary from Fed officials. [MKTS/GLOB]
Foreign institutional investors turned buyers after three sessions of sale on Thursday, adding a net 13.72 billion rupees ($163.5 million) of shares.
Domestic institutional investors continued to buy Indian stocks for the 14th straight session, purchasing shares with 29.72 billion rupees.
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($1 = 83.9070 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
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