(Reuters) – Indian shares are set to open marginally higher on Friday, after slipping to five-month lows in the previous session, while the focus remains on the Adani group stocks after they lost about $27 billion in market value in the previous session.
The Gift Nifty futures were trading at 23,438 as of 08:18 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 will open slightly above Thursday’s close of 23,349.9.
The slump came after U.S. prosecutors indicted its billionaire founder, Gautam Adani, for alleged bribery and fraud. The group has dismissed the accusations as “baseless”.
“Pressured by bribery charges against Gautam Adani, the already fragile investor sentiment further weakened amid unfavourable global conditions,” said Devarsh Vakil, deputy head of retail research at HDFC Securities.
The market was already under pressure due to a lackluster corporate earnings and sustained foreign outflows.
The Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex are down 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively, in the three trading sessions so far this week, set to post their third straight weekly loss.
Other Asian markets opened higher on the day, tracking Wall Street gains overnight after data suggested strength in the U.S. labour market. [MKTS/GLOB]
But assets linked to Adani Group remained under pressure, with U.S. dollar bonds nursing losses in early Asian trade.
Kenya on Thursday cancelled a procurement process worth nearly $2 billion that had been widely expected to award control of the country’s main airport to Adani group.
Analysts expected volatility, which has inched higher in the last three sessions, to rise further, and markets to remain under pressure on the back of heightened geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine, which has led to a rise in oil and gold prices. [O/R]
STOCKS TO WATCH
** Tata Power signed a deal with the Asian Development Bank for $4.25 billion to finance clean energy power projects.
** Stock exchanges NSE and BSE said they have no objection to the proposed demerger of Raymond and Raymond Realty.
** SJVN signed a pact with the Rajasthan government for renewable energy development.
** Life Insurance Corp of India raised its stake in LTIMindtree to 7.034% from 5.033%.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza)
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