Indian stocks are expected to open lower on Monday, tracking Asian peers, after a surprisingly strong US jobs report dampened expectations of an early interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, as concerns over The earnings slowdown continued to persist.
The GIFT Nifty futures contract was trading at 23,319 at 7:59 am IST, indicating that the Nifty 50, the benchmark index, will open below Friday’s close at 23,431.5.
Benchmark indices Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex lost around 2.4% last week, weighed down by concerns over moderation in corporate profits in the December quarter, after less than encouraging updates from a few large capitalization companies.
Data released after market hours Friday showed U.S. job growth unexpectedly accelerated in December, sending 10-year U.S. Treasury yields to highs of 14 month and increased the potential for U.S. rate cuts in 2025, making emerging markets, such as India, less attractive in terms of investment.
This prospect of US rate cuts has prompted foreign portfolio investors to sell Indian stocks in seven of the eight January sessions so far, with outflows totaling 213.57 billion rupees ($2.5 billion).
Other Asian markets fell on Monday, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index losing 1.1%. [MKTS/GLOB]
Meanwhile, investors are also awaiting consumer price inflation data, expected after market hours on Monday. Inflation in India fell to 5.3% in December thanks to a moderate rise in food prices, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
STOCKS TO WATCH ** Avenue Supermarts, the operator of D-mart, misses its profit estimate for the December quarter.
**Carbon black maker PCBL posts decline in net profit for December quarter
** Life insurance company ICICI Prudential lands Rs 1.75 billion in income tax dispute
** IT company Infosys accuses rival Cognizant of anti-competitive practices
($1 = 86.1200 Indian rupees)
Related News :