BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares are set to open marginally lower on Monday, amid a slide in global equities on worries of an economic slowdown in the U.S., while cooling domestic retail inflation offset much of the weakness in sentiment.
India’s NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange SINc1 were down 0.20% at 18,287, as of 7:50 a.m. IST.
Wall Street equities declined after a survey showed U.S. consumer sentiment slumped to a six-month low in May on worries of a potential recession. Asian markets were subdued ahead of the rate decision by China’s central bank and key macroeconomic data.
Offsetting the weak global cues was Indian retail inflation data, which eased to an 18-month low in April. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das said the latest inflation reading gave confidence to the central bank that its monetary policy was “on the right track.”
“Market is awaiting fresh triggers for the next leg of the rally,” said Siddhartha Khemkha, head – retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
The Nifty 50 extended gains for the third week in a row on Friday. The benchmark has added 5.50% since March 31, 2023, aided by relatively stable earnings for the March quarter and a return of foreign institutional buying in Indian equities.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their buying streak in Indian equities for the twelfth session in a row on Friday, adding 10.14 billion rupees ($123.99 million) worth of shares.
FIIs purchased nearly 195 billion rupees ($2.38 billion) worth of shares over the period, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.
($1 = 81.7800 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
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