Indian equity benchmarks set for muted open; trade deal, earnings in focus
The Gift Nifty futures were trading at 24,665 points as of 7:49 a.m. IST, indicating that the Nifty 50 (.NSEI), opens new tab will open near Monday's close of 24,680.9, the lowest closing level since June 4.
The benchmark Nifty and Sensex (.BSESN), opens new tab have both fallen in the last three sessions, losing over 2% each during the period.
Foreign portfolio investors sold Indian shares worth 60.81 billion rupees ($700.92 million) on Monday, as per provisional data, marking their biggest selling in India since May 30.
Investors are worried about the repercussions of a delay in the trade deal with the U.S. ahead of President Donald Trump's August 1 deadline.
Negotiations between India and the United States remained deadlocked over tariff cuts on agriculture and dairy products, Reuters reported last week citing two Indian government sources.
Trump said on Monday most trading partners that do not negotiate separate deals would soon face tariffs of 15% to 20% on their exports to the U.S., well above the broad 10% tariff he imposed in April.
Meanwhile, domestic earnings season has been mixed, with lenders Kotak Mahindra Bank (KTKM.NS), opens new tab and Axis Bank (AXBK.NS), opens new tab, and top information technology companies posting weaker-than-expected numbers.
** IndusInd Bank (INBK.NS), opens new tab swings back to profit in the first quarter after its biggest-ever loss in the previous three months, but its asset quality worsened
** JK Paper (JKPA.NS), opens new tab reports eighth straight quarter of a decline in profit and says it will acquire a 72% stake in private peer Borkar Packaging for 2.35 billion rupee
** Renewable energy power generator NTPC Green Energy (NTPG.NS), opens new tab and Solar module maker Waaree Energies (WAAN.NS), opens new tab both posted higher quarterly revenue and profits
($1 = 86.7570 Indian rupees)
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