Indian shares are set to open flat on Wednesday after hitting record highs for four sessions, as traders are expected to take a breather, while they look for cues on the strength of the US economy post a weak consumer confidence report.
The GIFT Nifty was at 25,927.5 points, as of 7:55 a.m. IST, indicating that the NSE Nifty 50 will open slightly below its Tuesday's close of 25,940.4.
The benchmark indexes have notched record highs in every session since the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points last week.
Nifty surged past the 26,000-mark for the first time on Tuesday but pared the gains to close largely unchanged. The index is likely to see a breather near the new milestone, analysts said.
Asian stocks gained on China's stimulus measures to support a weak economy, following gains in US stocks as commodity stocks offset early slide after a weak consumer confidence report and caution around the Fed's next policy move.
In the domestic market, foreign institutional investors turned net sellers of Indian equities, offloading stocks worth 27.84 billion rupees (~$333 million) on Tuesday.
Through Monday, they had net bought Indian shares worth 119.2 billion rupees since the US rate cut.
STOCKS TO WATCH -
* Tata Power: Co shuts a 500-megawatt (MW) thermal power unit at its Trombay plant in Mumbai due to a fire incident.
* Gillette India: Procter & Gamble Bangladesh, company's distributor in the region, terminated distribution agreement. ($1 = 83.5820 Indian rupees)