India's blue-chips shares set to continue ascent towards new record highs

Indian shares are set to open higher on Thursday, with the benchmark indexes inching towards new record highs, as bets of U.S. interest rate cut by March 2024 have triggered foreign inflows ahead of key macroeconomic data.

India's GIFT Nifty was down 0.05% at 20,132 as of 8:03 a.m. IST. The blue-chip Nifty 50 index on Wednesday settled at 20,096.60, above the 20,000 mark for the first time since Sept. 18.

Both the Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex are less than 1% shy of the record highs hit on Sept. 15.

"Nifty has crossed 20,000 after a period of consolidation," said Amar Ambani, group president and head of institutional equities at Yes Securities.

"We are hopeful that global interest rates are close to their peak. If U.S. bond yields stabilise, then foreign investors will be strong buyers in Indian equities," Ambani added.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPI) are on course to snap a monthly selling streak in November.

As of Nov. 29, FPIs bought Indian shares worth 46.87 billion rupees ($562.42 million) this month.

The Nifty 50 has jumped 5.33% in November so far, set to post its best month since October 2022.

India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth is forecast to have moderated to 6.8% in September quarter from 7.8% in the previous quarter, but the country still remained the fastest-growing major economy, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

The GDP data is scheduled to be released post local market hours on Thursday.

Wall Street equities were flat overnight, while U.S. Treasury yields extended their decline for a third session, on heightened expectations of a Federal Reserve rate cut by March 2024.

Meanwhile data showed U.S. gross domestic product rose at 5.2% in the third quarter, easing concerns over the economy. Asian markets were subdued. [MKTS/GLOB]

STOCKS TO WATCH:

** Zomato: Global money managers and banks including Vanguard and Goldman Sachs buy Alipay's stake in Zomato after the Chinese payments group offloaded its entire 3.44% stake in the food delivery company.

** Tata Technologies: Company to get listed on the BSE and National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday; issue price is fixed at 500 rupees per share.

** PCBL: Company gives in-principle approval for term sheet to enter into a joint venture with Australian company Kinaltek Pty.

** Ultratech Cement: Cement maker acquires 0.54 mtpa cement grinding assets of Burnpur Cement in Jharkhand for 1.70 billion rupees.

($1 = 83.3370 Indian rupees)