BENGALURU, April 20 (Reuters) - Indian shares were set
to open a tad higher on Thursday after logging losses in the
last three sessions, but caution prevailed as quarterly earnings
trickle in, amid weak global cues.
India's NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were up 0.23% at 17,693.50 as of 8:13 a.m. IST.
HCLTech Ltd is scheduled to report its earnings on
Thursday, while Reliance Industries Ltd , India's top
firm by market capitalisation, will report its earnings on
Friday.
The benchmark Nifty 50 has lost 1.17% so far this
week, as weak earnings of top two information technology (IT)
companies Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Infosys Ltd dampened sentiment.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have also turned net
sellers of Indian equities over the last three sessions,
offloading 131.7 million rupees ($1.6 million) on Wednesday.
"While the markets have seen FIIs paring equity exposure in
last few sessions, the recent dismal earnings show from select
frontline IT companies have been a sour point," said Shrikant
Chouhan, head of equity research (retail) at Kotak Securities.
Global equities remained subdued on rising odds of the U.S.
Federal Reserve delivering a 25 basis points rate hike at its
upcoming meeting in May 3, and as investors digest latest
earnings reports. Stocks to Watch:
** Mastek Ltd : Co reports fall in consolidated net
profit in March quarter, approves final dividend of 12 rupees
per share.
** Tata Communications Ltd : Co reports fall in
consolidated net profit in Q4.
** Ultratech Cement Ltd : Co increases capacity of
its grinding unit in Bihar.
** Earnings on Thursday: HCLTech , Cyient Ltd , Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy Ltd ,
ICICI Prudential Life Ltd , Oriental Hotels Ltd , Bodhi Tree Multimedia Ltd .
** Earnings on Friday: Reliance Industries ,
Hindustan Zinc Ltd .
($1 = 82.2400 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun
H K)
