Indian stocks are expected to open lower on Monday, pressured by concerns over poor corporate earnings, uncertainty over US trade policy and continued foreign capital outflows.
The GIFT Nifty futures contract was trading at 22,930.5 at 7:47 am IST, indicating that the NSE Nifty 50, the benchmark index, will open below Friday’s close at 23,092.2.
Indian benchmark indices posted losses for the third consecutive week on Friday.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have offloaded Indian stocks and bonds worth $8.23 billion so far in January.
In stocks alone, REITs withdrew $7.44 billion, the largest outflows since October 2024, when benchmarks fell about 6% each, their worst performance since March 2020.
The Nifty has lost 2.3% this month, with just five sessions left before the Union Budget on February 1.
“The market is waiting for the budget to act as a significant trigger to change the sentiment in a positive way, said Santosh Meena, head of research at Swastika Investmart.
“Earnings season has been lackluster so far and Trump’s call for rate cuts adds an element of uncertainty to markets,” Meena said.
Ahead of the Union Budget, the Fed’s rate decision on Wednesday will be in focus, with expectations being that the US central bank will not move rates.
Investors are awaiting comments from the Fed, particularly after Mr. Trump argued for lower borrowing costs, to gauge the future path of interest rates.
-Shares of ICICI Bank, India’s second-largest private lender, will be in focus after the bank reported a higher quarterly profit, thanks to healthy loan growth, although profit margins loan have contracted.
Other Asian markets were stable during the day. [MKTS/GLOB]
ACTIONS TO MONITOR
** Godrej Consumer misses Q3 profit estimates due to subdued urban demand
** JSW Steel misses third-quarter profit estimates due to falling prices and slowing demand
** IndiGo airline records a decline in third-quarter profit, hurt by considerable foreign exchange losses, even though it carried a record 31.1 million passengers.
**IT firm LTIMindtree appoints former chairman Venugopal Lambu as managing director
($1 = 86.2160 Indian rupees)
