By Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU, March 1 (Reuters) - Indian shares were set to
open lower on Wednesday on a slowdown in domestic economic
growth in the December quarter, persistent rate hike concerns in
the U.S. and sustained foreign selling in domestic equities.
India's NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were down 0.16% at 17,371.50, as of 7:49 a.m. IST.
India's economic growth slowed to 4.4% in the December
quarter - below expectations of a 4.6% growth and slower than
the previous quarter's 6.3% growth - as pent-up demand eased and
weakness in the manufacturing sector continued.
Wall Street equities fell on concerns about a prolonged high
interest rate regime as recent economic data from the U.S.
indicated a surge in inflation.
Asian markets recovered from a mixed start after China's
manufacturing data came in stronger than expected. The MSCI's
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.89%. Adding to the concerns is the sustained foreign selling in
Indian equities. Foreign institutional investors (FII) offloaded
a net 45.59 billion rupees worth of equities on Tuesday.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have sold a net 341.46
billion rupees worth of Indian equities in 2023 so far.
Indian equities logged their longest losing streak in nearly
four years on Tuesday, with the benchmark Nifty closing
below the 200-day moving average and logging its third
consecutive monthly loss.
STOCKS TO WATCH
** Zydus Lifesciences : Co gets final approval from
U.S. drug regulator for multiple tablets.
** Axis Bank : Lender to complete acquisition of
Citibank's India consumer business and NBFC consumer business on
March 1, 2023.
** Power Grid : Co emerges as successful bidder to
establish an interstate transmission line in Gujarat.
** Adani Enterprises : Co's unit gets a Letter of
Intent from Odisha government for the Kutrumali bauxite block in
Odisha.
** Samvardhana Motherson : Co completes purchase of
assets of frame manufacturing and assembly operations of Daimler
India Commercial Vehicles.
($1 = 82.6680 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)
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