Indian shares likely to open higher, US tariff threat may cap gains

 Indian shares likely to open higher, US tariff threat may cap gains Refinitiv1 min read

NIFTY +0.45%

BSE +4.69%

HAL +0.79%

BEL +0.37% India's Nifty 50 may open higher on Friday and likely snap its historic five-month losing streak as foreign buying and optimism over a rebound in domestic growth boost sentiment.

However, the threat of reciprocal U.S. tariffs, due to take effect on April 2, will likely keep the lid on gains.

The GIFT Nifty futures (GIFc1) were trading at 23,753 as of 7:56 a.m. IST, indicating the blue-chip Nifty 50 NIFTY will open above Thursday's close of 23,591.95.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought Indian shares worth 111.11 billion rupees ($1.3 billion) on Thursday, the highest for a day in six months, provisional data showed.

FPIs have been buying in India for six straight sessions after an intense sell-off from late September 2024 when benchmark indexes hit lifetime highs.

The benchmarks are still down about 10% from their peak. Still, market participants believe the worst is over for Indian markets.

Elsewhere in Asia, stocks in Japan and South Korea led the losses as U.S. President Donald Trump's 25% automobile tariffs weighed.

The focus will be on global trade as Trump is expected to announce reciprocal tariffs on several trading partners, including India, from April 2.

The reciprocal tariffs will be "very lenient" and "in many cases, less than the tariff they've been charging (the U.S.) for decades", Trump said.

STOCKS TO WATCH

** BSE BSE will be in focus after the Indian markets regulator proposes to have weekly derivatives contracts expiry on either Tuesday or Thursday. The National Stock Exchange of India has deferred its plans to shift expiry to Monday

** Hindustan Aeronautics HAL signs an amendment to an existing defence contract signed in 2010, revising the value to 65.42 billion rupees from 59.89 billion rupees

** Bharat Electronics BEL says it has got orders worth 13.85 billion rupees since March 12

** Jio Financial Services JIOFIN and Eternal ZOMATO , formerly Zomato, will replace Britannia Industries BRITANNIA and Bharat Petroleum Corp BPCL in the benchmark Nifty 50 index effective Friday

($1 = 85.6830 Indian rupees)