(Reuters) - Indian shares were set for open higher on Thursday, though futures lost some steam amid fragile investor sentiment globally after Credit Suisse, one of the top European lenders, added to worries about a crisis in the financial sector.
India's NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were up 0.18% as of 8:23 a.m. IST, slipping from gains of 0.26% as of 7:50 a.m.
While India markets have opened slightly higher in each of the past three sessions, they reversed course later in the day.
The benchmark Nifty 50 index is on a is five-session losing streak and closed below the 17,000-points mark on Wednesday, dragged down by financials.
Wall Street equities closed mostly lower, after a sharp tumble in Europe, on risks of contagion in global financial sector, after Credit Suisse's biggest shareholder said it could not provide the Swiss Bank with more funding.
Credit Suisse stock plunged as much as 30% to a record low overnight. But, by the end of the day, Switzerland's central bank pledged to fund the company.
The weakness in sentiment gripped Asian markets. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were down 0.68%.
The Nifty 50 has fallen 4.4% in the past five sessions, while the Nifty financials index has slid 5.3%.
Foreign institutional investors (FII) extended their selling streak to a fifth straight session on Wednesday, when they sold a net 12.71 billion rupees ($153.4 million) worth of equities.
Stocks to Watch:
** Patanjali Foods: BSE, NSE notified freezing action initiated against certain promoters and promoter group of co
** Orient Paper and Industries: Approved Capital Expenditure Aggregating To 4.75 Billion Rupees
** Life Insurance Corporation of India : Cuts stake in NMDC ltd and TIL ltd by over 2% each
