Gift NIFTY futures indicate weak start for markets; Asian shares plunge amid selloff in AI shares

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open lower on Thursday, October 15, as indicated by NIFTY futures traded at Gift City in Gandhinagar. NIFTY futures at Gift City dropped 50 points to 22,599 amid weak cues from global markets.

The benchmarks ended lower on Wednesday after a day's pause in the previous session as sentiment turned cautious after crude oil moved above $106 per barrel and wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation accelerated to 11.39% in September from 9.92% in August.

The SENSEX ended 252 points lower at 72,782 and NIFTY50 index declined 99 points to close at 22,623.

Asian markets were trading sharply lower as selloff in tech shares deepened after higher-than-expected CPI inflation data renewed bets of Fed rate hike going ahead.

South Korea's KOSPI dropped 7.08%, Japan's Nikkei tumbled 4.33%, China's Shanghai Composite index fell 1.52% and Hing Kong's Hang Seng index plunged 0.92%.

Overnight, US stocks ended sharply lower tracking inflation data. Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.09%, S&P 500 index dropped 1.11% and tech heavy Nasdaq index plunged 1.88%.

The CPI data lifted expectations of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve over the course of the year ahead, possibly as soon as later this month. Fed funds futures are now pricing an implied 31.6% probability of a 25-basis-point hike at the US central bank's next two-day meeting on ⁠October 28, compared to a 22.1% chance a day earlier, news agency Reuters reported citing CME Group's FedWatch tool.

Back home, foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹1,857.44 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth ₹2,670 crore.

IDBI Bank shares will be in focus after Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the strategic sale of a 60.72% stake in the lender to Fairfax Financial Holdings for ₹52,878 crore.

The government and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) will jointly retain a 34% stake in the restructured entity. The transaction involves the sale of a 30.48% stake held by the government and 30.24% held by LIC.

Nestle India, Wipro, Jio Financial Services, Tech Mahindra, Persistent Systems, HDFC Life, HDFC AMC, IIFL, Indian Bank, IRFC and L&T Finance among others will also be in focus as they will report their September quarter earnings.