Indian shares set to open higher, tracking Asian peers

Dec 3 (Reuters) – Indian shares are set to open higher on Tuesday, tracking other Asian peers, with comments from key U.S. Federal Reserve officials driving expectations of a 25 basis-point rate cut later in the month.
The Gift Nifty futures were trading at 24,425 as of 08:27 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 will open above its Monday’s close 24,276.05.
The benchmark indexes Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex climbed on Monday, led by gains in heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, as the recent decline presented “attractive buying opportunities”.
The Monday’s gains came despite a deceleration in economic growth in third quarter, which has heightened the pressure on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to lower interest rates.
However, economists expect the RBI to hold rates unchanged at its meeting on Dec. 6.
“The markets’ resilience to weak macro data is promising, signaling potential for further recovery,” said Ajit Mishra senior vice president of research at Religare Broking.
Other Asian markets opened higher after most Wall Street equities advanced overnight. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite hit record highs, after comments from Fed Governor Christopher Waller hinted at a 25 basis-point rate cut in the central bank’s policy decision later in the month.
Indian information technology companies, which earn a significant amount of revenue from the U.S., will be in focus after data showed improving manufacturing activity in the world’s largest economy.
STOCKS TO WATCH
** Solar Industries gets export orders worth 20.39 billion rupees ($240.5 million).
** Pricol says it will acquire the plastic component division of TVS Motor arm Sundaram auto components for 2.15 billion rupees.
** KPI Green Energy gets an order from Coal India to set up solar PV plant. ($1 = 84.7710 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy)