Nifty set to open marginally lower amid weak global cues

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open marginally lower as indicated by the Nifty futures traded on Gift Nifty amid weak cues from Asian markets. The Nifty futures on Gift Nifty fell 15 points or 0.06 per cent to 24,843.

Most of the Asian markets were trading lower with Japan's Nikkei down 0.24 per cent, Singapore's Straits Times fell 0.05 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.71 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI declined 0.51 per cent.

Overnight, all three major US stock indexes lost ground on Thursday, weighed by technology shares, as Treasury yields rose on easing recession fears and global central bank officials convened at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 177.71 points, or 0.43 per cent, to 40,712.78. The S&P 500 lost 50.21 points, or 0.89 per cent, at 5,570.64 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 299.63 points, or 1.67 per cent, to 17,619.35.

Back home, foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,371.79 crore on Thursday while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 2,971.80 crore, data from stock exchanges showed.

The Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das strongly supported the decision to leave the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent and pointed out that any argument for easing now might well be misleading. The RBI Governor made these statements during the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee meeting held between August 6-8. Das, in the minutes of the meeting released by the RBI on Thursday, reiterated that the present policy rate is "broadly balanced" and in sync with the RBI's objective of managing inflation while supporting economic growth. While two members were pitching for a rate cut, the committee maintained a status quo on the benchmark interest rate for the ninth consecutive time.

Stocks to Watch

Adani Power: The NCLT has approved Adani Power’s Rs 4,101 crore resolution plan to acquire Lanco Amarkantak Power.

Ambuja Cements: The Adani family plans to divest a 2.84 per cent stake in Ambuja Cements, valued at Rs 4,197.8 crore, with a floor price of Rs 600 per share. The deal is estimated at $500 million.

FSN E-Commerce Ventures: Harindarpal Singh Banga and Indra Banga are set to sell 4.09 crore shares, representing a 1.4 per cent stake in the company, through a block deal at a floor price of Rs 198 per share.

Shriram Finance: The company has greenlit the sale of its entire stake in Shriram Housing Finance to Mango Crest Investment, an affiliate of Warburg Pincus.

Zomato: The food delivery giant will discontinue its Zomato Legends service due to its inability to achieve product-market fit.

(With Reuters inputs)