June 1 (Reuters) – Indian shares are likely to open higher on Monday, following Friday’s losses, after record foreign outflow and the highest ever turnover on the National Stock Exchange of India that accompanied MSCI’s index rebalancing.
GIFT Nifty futures were at 23,726 as of 7:40 a.m. IST, indicating the benchmark Nifty 50 would open above Friday’s close of 23,547.75.
Foreign investors offloaded 211.06 billion rupees ($2.22 billion) worth of shares on Friday, provisional data show, as the 50-stock index shed 1.5% to close at a two-week low.
The selling was triggered largely due to MSCI’s May index rebalancing, which took effect at around 3:00 p.m. IST on Friday. The index rejig was expected to lead to about $870 million worth of outflows from Indian equities, per Goldman Sachs.
Friday’s session saw turnover at NSE soar to a record 2.87 trillion rupees ($30.21 billion), according to exchange data. Turnover for the Nifty 50 also surpassed 1 trillion rupees for the first time, per data compiled by LSEG.
Investors continue to focus on developments around U.S.-Iran peace talks. The three-month old war has rattled energy markets, fanned inflation concerns and dampened the growth outlook for India, which is world’s third largest oil importer.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he would soon decide on a proposed deal to extend the ceasefire with Iran, though the two countries still appeared to differ on significant issues that have been central to the conflict.
STOCKS TO WATCH
** India’s largest airline IndiGo reports quarterly loss, hit by capacity curbs, declining rupee and higher costs
** Oil companies will be in focus as India cut export duty on petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel for the fortnight starting June 1
** Textile companies will be in focus after giovernment scraps customs duties on cotton imports for five months in a bid to aid exporters
($1 = 95.0000 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M in Bengaluru; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar)