Key Takeaways
- Indian shares likely to open higher as crude oil prices ease.
- BSE to replace IT company Wipro in the Nifty index.
- Foreign investors net sold Indian shares worth $1.04 billion on Tuesday.
Indian shares were expected to open marginally higher on Wednesday, buoyed by a slight easing of crude oil prices, which had been a concern for investors.
GIFT Nifty futures were at 22,834 points as of 7:46 a.m. IST, indicating a positive start for the benchmark Nifty 50 index, which closed at 22,716.2 on Tuesday.
The National Stock Exchange of India’s semi-annual index review will come into effect on Wednesday, with investors closely monitoring the closing auction session for higher inflows.
Exchange operator BSE is set to replace IT company Wipro in the Nifty as part of the review, with changes to the 50-stock index closely watched by passive funds with about $97 billion of assets under management.
Indian benchmarks have fallen about 5.8% in September, and are on course for their worst drop since March.
Brent crude futures rose 1.1% to $103.7 per barrel, after dropping 2.6% in the previous session, but the overall trend remains positive for Indian shares.
The yield on rate-sensitive US 2-year Treasuries fell as traders trimmed their October rate hike expectations after a Federal Reserve official said the central bank has time to weigh data before deciding when to hike rates again.
Foreign investors net sold Indian shares worth 99.8 billion rupees ($1.04 billion) on Tuesday, marking their biggest outflow in about four months.
They have offloaded $2.7 billion of shares in September, taking the year-to-date selling to $26.75 billion.
