Indian shares are set to open marginally higher on Friday, with the focus on IT stocks after Tata Consultancy Services kicked off the earnings season for local tech majors on a dour note as it reported a quarterly profit miss.
The Gift Nifty was trading at 25,102, as of 8:24 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 will open slightly above its close of 24,998.45 on Thursday.
Benchmark index Nifty 50 has witnessed profit-booking over the past two weeks, logging losses in seven of nine sessions. The index has dropped 4.7% from record-high levels scaled on September 27.
Domestic equities could open higher on the day, but a likely drop in IT stocks following a lower-than-expected quarterly profit from TCS, and hotter-than-expected US inflation reading are set to trigger profit-booking, said two traders.
The US-listed shares of Indian IT companies Infosys and Wipro fell 2.66% and 2.34%, respectively, overnight.
Wall Street equities dropped after data showed US consumer prices rose slightly more than expected in September.
Markets, however, are pricing in a 25-basis-point US rate reduction in November, with weekly jobless claims showing a climb, which could prompt the Federal Reserve to opt for a cut to support the labour market and economy.
Asian markets were trading marginally higher, ahead of China's fresh fiscal stimulus package expected to be unveiled over the weekend.
Foreign institutional investors continue to sell Indian shares for a ninth consecutive session, offloading a net ₹652.33 billion ($7.77 billion) of stocks over the period.
Domestic institutional investors, however, remained buyers for the 13th straight session on Thursday, cushioning foreign outflows.
STOCKS TO WATCH
** Tata Elxsi beats September-quarter profit estimates driven by transportation segment.
** IREDA posts rise in net profit in the second quarter, gets government nod for setting up unit for retail business.
** Mazagon Dock gets order worth ₹122 crore.
($1 = 83.9570 Indian rupees)