Indian shares poised for higher open amid caution over oil, bond stress

Indian stocks were positioned to open marginally higher on Friday, following a series of losses, despite increased oil prices and strain in global bond markets tempering optimism. The GIFT Nifty futures stood at 24,311.50 points at 7:52 a.m. IST, signaling a bullish opening for the Nifty 50 index, which had closed at 24,231.85 the previous day.

The Nifty had ended a seven-day decline the day before, while the Sensex rebounded after four consecutive sessions of losses. Both indices had fallen by 0.6% over the course of the week.

While a rebound in stocks could be driven by short-covering following the recent downtrend, caution prevailed due to the impact of higher crude prices resulting from the conflict in the Middle East. Asian markets experienced a surge in their openings but were forecasted to face a weekly decline, as global bond markets continued to struggle with stress, and the diplomatic stalemate in the Gulf led to oil prices reaching one-month peaks. This situation fueled worries about inflation and the availability of energy supplies.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) switched to a net selling stance in India, after experiencing two days of buying, with outflows totaling 5.83 billion rupees (approximately $61 million). On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DII) poured in, depositing 35.38 billion rupees on Thursday, according to preliminary information from the National Stock Exchange.