Indian Shares Seen Opening On Muted Note

(RTTNews) - Indian shares are seen opening on a muted note on Monday as investors closely monitor the situation in the Middle East and await an upcoming Federal Reserve interest-rate decision.

Infosys share price will be in focus today after the IT services giant reported 6 percent year-on-year growth in its second quarter consolidated net profit but reduced its revenue forecast for 2026-27, citing weakness in its key North American market.

Private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank reported a 26 percent jump in its Q2 consolidated net profit, driven by stronger loan demand and lower provisions for bad loans.

Meanwhile, Jio Platform's IPO was subscribed 22.2 times overall with bids for 4.38 billion shares against the 197.5 million shares on offer. The allotment is likely to be finalized today.

Benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty fell over 2 percent each last week amid broad-based selling, pressured by heavy foreign investor selling. Investors offloaded shares across sectors except IT.

Asian markets traded lower this morning following losses on Wall Street Friday. Amid lingering concerns about the sustainability of AI-related spending, investors looked for cues from a slew of corporate earnings and central bank meetings due this week.

Prominent companies, including Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Intel and SanDisk headline this week's earnings calendar, with investors likely to focus on cloud growth, semiconductor demand and AI spending for fresh evidence of whether massive investments in AI infrastructure are generating sufficient returns.

Monetary policy decisions from the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, Bank of Canada and Bank of Japan could shape rate expectations as energy costs rise.

Gold was little changed below $4,000 an ounce in early Asian trade, hovering close to a three-month low after falling 4 percent last week, marking its biggest weekly decline since June.

A pull back in Treasury yields weighed on the dollar index as investors braced for the Fed decision.

Brent crude futures fell nearly 2 percent below $115 a barrel after reports of diplomatic efforts to reduce regional tensions in West Asia.

A Qatari delegation arrived in Tehran on Sunday as part of renewed diplomatic efforts to de-escalate reginal tensions in coordination with the United States.

Saudi Arabia partially resumed operations at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Sunday, even as Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis vowed to keep striking the facility, calling it a "military target."

U.S. stocks ended lower on Friday on concerns over surging energy costs and a steady rise in bond yields.

Brent crude futures hit a six-month high above $116 a barrel while the 10-year Treasury yield rose toward 4.99 percent as Iran-allied Houthi militants continued their attacks against Saudi Arabia and fears grew of a new breakout in the Israel-U.S. war on Iran after the midterm elections.

Iran's army chief reportedly claimed the country's military is fully prepared for "asymmetric warfare" after strengthening its capabilities.

In economic releases, data showed U.S. business activity grew at a slightly slower pace in October but remained close to a multi-year high. A measure of consumer sentiment hit its lowest level in five months in October as rising interest rates depressed morale.

While the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 0.2 percent to reach its lowest closing level since early August, the S&P 500 dropped half a percent and the Dow tumbled 1.2 percent.

European stocks edged lower on Friday as investors reacted to rising oil prices and largely weak regional PMI data. France's debt woes and uncertainty about returns on AI-related investments also kept investors on edge.

The pan-European STOXX 600 fell 0.3 percent. The German DAX dipped 0.8 percent, France's CAC 40 shed 0.4 percent and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 eased 0.3 percent.