Indian shares seen opening higher after earnings-led rebound; higher oil to cap gains

By Indian shares are set to open marginally higher on Friday, after upbeat earnings aided a rebound in the previous session, though higher crude oil prices are likely to limit follow-through gains. GIFT Nifty futures were at 22,981 as ​of 7:42 a.m. IST, indicating a positive start for the benchmark Nifty 50, which ‌closed at 22,936.75 on Thursday. Both the benchmarks Nifty and BSE Sensex gained over 1% each in the previous session, after strong quarterly results from key constituents and as the US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady as expected. They have gained about 1.4% and ​2.3%, respectively, in October, on course to snap a two-month selling streak, with sentiment finding ​some support from expectations of a potential review of long-term capital gains tax and ⁠steady corporate earnings despite global headwinds, said analysts at Geojit Investments and Equinomics Research. 'Overall market bias has ​improved to cautiously positive, supported by the breakout from recent consolidation and broad-based sector buying, though elevated crude ​prices remains an important risk,' said Hitesh Tailor, technical research analyst at Choice Broking. Brent crude futures rose 2.2% to $117.4 a barrel after Yemen's Houthis said they attacked Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura oil refinery and airports in the country, which overshadowed hopes ​for peace talks between the US and Iran. Other Asian markets fell, with Japan's Nikkei 225 losing about ​3%, ahead of Bank of Japan's rate decision. South Korea's Kospi lost about 5% after Wall Street equities dipped overnight on ‌AI ⁠jitters. Nasdaq lost over 1%, dragged by Alphabet after it revealed a hefty AI-related cash burn in its quarterly earnings. Foreign portfolio investors turned net sellers of Indian equities on Thursday after two sessions of buying, with outflows of 9.44 billion rupees ($99.17 million). Domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth 19.24 billion rupees, as per provisional data ​from the NSE. Investors also await ​key earnings from index ⁠constituents such as Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma and Bharat Electronics due later in the day, which could influence the near-term market trajectory.