BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares are set for a muted start on Monday, as investors await domestic retail inflation data today as well as U.S. inflation data due later in the week, amid uncertainty over the Adani Group. India’s NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were down 0.12% at 17,856 as of 8:05 a.m. IST.
Wall Street equities closed lower on Friday, on fears of a longer-than-expected high-rate regime after hawkish comments from key Federal Reserve officials.
Asian markets fell, with the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan sliding 0.71%.
Investors await India’s retail inflation data for January, due today. A Reuters poll of economists showed that India’s annual retail inflation rose from a 12-month low in December, but stayed within the 6% upper limit of RBI’s tolerance band in January.
Adding to the concerns in domestic equities is the uncertainty over the Adani conglomerate, which has halved its revenue growth target and announced plans to scale down fresh capital expenditure.
The group has lost over $100 million in market value since Jan. 24, when U.S. short-seller Hindenburg Research accused the conglomerate of stock manipulation and improper use of tax havens.
India’s market regulator is already probing the group’s links to some of the investors in its scrapped $2.5 billion share sale of the flagship Adani Enterprises.
STOCKS TO WATCH
** ABB India: Co reports rise in Q3 net profit, recommends dividend of 5.5 rupees per share.
** PB FinTech: Co reports narrowing of loss in third quarter.
** Delhivery: Co reports widening of consolidated loss in Q3.
** Kotak Mahindra Bank: Bank to buy microfinance lender Sonata Finance for $65 mln.
($1 = 82.5250 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
