Indian shares set for cautious start; all eyes on US Fed meeting

Indian shares are set to begin a holiday-truncated week on a cautious note as investors digested economic data from China and looked ahead to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting this week.

India’s GIFT Nifty on the NSE International Exchange was up 0.1% to 20,186.5 by 0755 IST.

Asian stock markets fell on Monday as China’s key property sector continues to remain under stress even after positive data from the country showed signs of stabilisation.

Meanwhile, markets are betting that the Fed will stand pat on rates at its Sept. 19-20 and investors will look for clues on the central bank’s monetary policy outlook.

On the domestic front, the Nifty 50 and Sensex gained nearly 2% each last week and are expected to continue their stellar run.

The more domestically-focused small- and mid-caps have been volatile after hitting record highs on account of fears of stretched valuations, according to analysts.

Separately, foreign investors bought 1.64 billion rupees ($19.74 million) worth of shares on a net basis on Friday, while their domestic peers bought 19.39 billion rupees worth of equity, according to stock exchange data.

STOCKS TO WATCH

Bharat Electronics: Bharat Electronics receives orders worth Rs. 30 billion.

Axis Bank: Investment banking unit co-CEO Chirag Negandhi resigns

HFCL Ltd: HFCL received order worth Rs. 10.15 billion.

Tata Steel: Reaches deal with UK government for investment in the UK steel industry.

Dhanlaxmi Bank: Independent Director Sridhar Kalyanasundaram resigns from the board.

($1 = 83.0990 Indian rupees)