BENGALURU, March 24 (Reuters) - Indian shares were set
to open lower on Friday, as investor sentiment turned cautious
after Accenture cut its revenue forecast and about 2.5% of its
workforce, signalling a grim near-term outlook for the
information technology sector alongside the global banking
concerns.
India's NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were down 0.21% at 17,048 as of 8:27 a.m. IST. The
broader Asian equity indexes were subdued. In a week marking Credit Suisse's rescue and the U.S.
Federal Reserve rate decision, the Nifty 50 has fallen 0.14% so
far.
Wall Street equities rose overnight after investors took
comfort that the Fed might pause its rate hikes. The risk of contagion in global banking will continue to
weigh on markets in the near term, according to analysts.
Adding to investors' concerns is Accenture Plc.'s downgrade
of its annual revenue and profit forecast and a decision to cut
19,000 jobs. The development is a sign of a grim global economic
outlook weighing on corporate spending on IT services.
Significant exposure to banking, financial services and
insurance (BFSI) sector in the West is already seen as a risk to
the sector.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who
snapped their nine-day selling streak on Wednesday, turned
sellers again on Thursday, offloading 9.95 billion rupees
($121.05 million) of equities.
Stocks to Watch:
** Bharat Electronics : Ministry of Defence signs
two contracts of 38 billion rupees with co, to supply medium
power radar and digital radar warning services to the Indian Air
Force.
** Rail Vikas Nigam : Co's joint venture receives
LoA for a project worth 2.52 billion Rupees in Gujarat.
** IDFC , IDFC Bank : Co's shareholding in
IDFC First Bank increases to 39.99%.
** Lupin : Co receives tentative approval from U.S.
FDA for drug used in treatment of liver disease. ($1 = 82.1970 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by
Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
