Indian shares are set for a muted open on Friday after the previous session’s declines on concerns over a slower pace of rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve, while IT stocks are likely to find support after solid results by US peer Accenture.
The GIFT Nifty futures were trading at 23,917 as of 07:57 a.m. IST, indicating the benchmark Nifty 50 will open near Thursday’s close of 23,951.70.
In the previous session, the Nifty and BSE Sensex closed 1% lower, taking their weekly declines to over 3%, after the Fed delivered a 25 basis points rate cut but forecast just two reductions in 2025, half of what policymakers anticipated in September.
The benchmark indexes are set to log their first weekly decline in five. Fed’s rate cut outlook dampened risk appetite for local equities, with foreign investors selling Indian shares worth 42.25 billion rupees ($496.5 million) on Thursday, exchange data showed.
Overseas investors turned net buyers in December after being net sellers for two straight months, but have net sold domestic stocks so far this week.
Indian shares decline as Fed’s hawkish outlook spooks investors
Indian IT firms, which get a major portion of their revenue from US clients, will be on the radar after sector bellwether Accenture beat its first-quarter profit and revenue estimates and raised its annual forecast.
Meanwhile, Asian markets were trading lower after Wall Street equities closed mixed overnight.
Source: Brecorder
