(Reuters) - Indian equity benchmarks are set to open higher on Tuesday amid an overnight slide in global oil prices and mixed trading in Asian equities.
India's NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were up 0.21% at 18,243 as of 0200 GMT. The spike in COVID cases in China weighed on sentiment, while the MSCI Asia ex Japan index remained little changed.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex closed down 0.84% at 61,144.84 on Monday, while the NSE Nifty 50 index shed 0.81% to 18,159.95. Both the indexes closed at a near-two-week low and extended their losing streak for the third day in a row.
Oil prices slipped to their lowest level since early January on a report that Saudi Arabia was holding talks with OPEC allies to raise output. Crude clawed back some of the losses after Saudi Arabia denied the report. The concerns of lower Chinese fuel demand amid COVID restrictions also weighed on oil prices.
Foreign institutional investors sold 15.94 billion Indian rupees ($195.11 million) worth of equities on Monday, while domestic investors bought 12.63 billion rupees ($154.59 million) of shares, per provisional NSE data.
Stocks To Watch:
** Reliance Industries: Local media reports said National Company Law Tribunal gave its nod to Reliance Jio, the telecom arm of the conglomerate, to acquire Reliance Infratel.
** NDTV: The open offer by Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt. Ltd., along with AMG Media Networks and Adani Enterprises, to acquire additional 26% stake in the company will be launched on Tuesday and continue till Dec. 5. The offer price is 294 rupees, a discount of 23.07% on the last close.
** Lupin: The company signed a MoU with Rajasthan government to reduce prevalence and improve health outcomes for patients diagnosed with cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Alwar.
** Sadbhav Engineering: Vasistha Patel, Chief Executive Officer, and Nitin Patel, Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer have tendered resignation from their positions with immediate effect. Rohit Modi has been appointed as CEO with effect from Nov. 21.
** JK Paper: Company entered into share purchase and shareholders' agreements to acquire 85% stake in Horizon Packs Pvt Ltd and Securipax Packaging Pvt Ltd each.
** Punjab National Bank: The bank appointed Binod Kumar and M Paramasivam as executive directors on its board.
** Kirloskar Electric Company: The company's Govenahalli unit has extended partial lay-off of 36 workmen out of 148 for 60 days, with effect from Nov. 20. All workmen laid-off at the Bhudihal unit have been recalled from Dec. 01, 2022.
** Axis Bank: S&P Global Ratings upgraded the bank’s long-term and short-term issuer credit rating to 'BBB-/A-3' from 'BB+/B'. The outlook on the long-term rating is stable. The agency also upgraded the long-term issue rating on the bank's senior unsecured notes to 'BBB-' from 'BB+'.