Indian stocks set to open lower; domestic inflation data in the spotlight

BENGALURU, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Indian stocks are expected to start on a slightly weaker note on Monday in the holiday-cut week as earnings season comes to a close, ahead of national retail inflation data. which will be announced later in the day.

India’s GIFT Nifty on the NSE International Exchange was down 0.28% at 19,432 as of 7:58 am IST.

India’s retail inflation likely accelerated to 6.40% in July on rising food prices, breaching the upper end of the Reserve Bank of India’s 2-6% tolerance band for the first time. once in five months, according to a Reuters report. survey of economists found.

Corporate earnings season will likely end on Monday, with consumer giant ITC (ITC.NS) and telecommunications service provider Vodafone Idea (VODA.NS) among hundreds of companies scheduled to report quarterly results.

The reference Nifty 50 (.NSEI) closed 0.59% lower on Friday at 19,428.30, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) it closed 0.56% lower at 65,322.65.

The Nifty 50 fell 0.45% last week, posting losses for the third week in a row.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks generally struggled on Monday ahead of data from China that is likely to amplify the case for serious stimulus, even as Beijing seems deaf to the calls.

Foreign investors sold 30.73 billion Indian rupees ($370.80 million) worth of shares on Friday, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE). By contrast, domestic institutional investors were net buyers, adding Rs 5,000 crore of shares.

ACTIONS TO SEE:

** Adani Ports (APSE.NS) on Saturday named MSKA & Associates as its auditor instead of Deloitte and saying found Deloitte’s cited reasons for resigning “unconvincing”

** Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC.NS) on Friday reported a 34% drop in first-quarter profit

** Jindal Steel and Power (JNSP.NS) reported a 15% drop in first-quarter profit on Friday, hit by a rise in spending and a drop in steel prices

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($1 = 82.8740 Indian rupees)

Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bangalore; Edited by Eileen Soreng

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