June 25 (Reuters) – Indian shares are set to open higher on Thursday, tracking broader Asia after oil prices fell to pre-Iran war levels as stranded tankers exited the Strait of Hormuz following an initial peace deal between the U.S. and Iran.
GIFT Nifty futures were at 24,107, as of 7:51 a.m. IST, indicating the Nifty 50 could open above Wednesday’s close of 24,021.65 points.
Brent crude fell 1.8% to $72.4 a barrel, easing concerns about growth and inflation outlook in the world’s No. 3 oil importer and consumer. [O/R]
Other Asian stock markets rose 1.3%, helped by lower oil prices and as strong earnings and forecasts from chip giants Micron and Qualcomm helped ease fears about the red-hot AI rally.
Improved global risk sentiment, coupled with the continued decline in crude oil prices, is aiding the rally in stocks, said two analysts.
Both the Nifty 50 and Sensex have risen in seven of the last nine sessions, gaining about 4% each, aided by lower oil prices after the U.S.-Iran peace deal and India’s measures to support the rupee and lure overseas investors.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) offloaded 18.43 billion rupees worth of shares on Wednesday, while inflows from domestic institutional investors (DII) stood at 36.37 billion rupees.
STOCKS TO WATCH ** Jubilant Pharmova gets relief as the Income Tax Department reduces tax demand on subsidiary to 424.1 million rupees from 1.08 billion rupees ** The Reserve Bank of India approves private lender ICICI Bank’s plan to purchase an additional 2% stake in its life insurance arm ** Life Insurance Corp of India announces the resignation of Sunil Agrawal as chief financial officer, effective July 14
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)