INDIA STOCKS-Indian shares set to open lower on steady oil, rate fears

BENGALURU, Dec 28 (Reuters) – Indian shares are set to open lower on Wednesday, amid mixed cues from U.S. economic data on growth trajectory and oil prices hovering around a three-week high.

India’s NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange SINc1 were down 0.48% at 18,061.50, as of 8:05 a.m. IST.

Wall Street equities closed lower after data showed advance goods trade deficit for November narrowed to $83.35 billion from $98.8 billion in October, suggesting strength in the economy and adding to rate hike concerns.

The trade deficit data was offset by a separate report that showed a fall in home prices, indicating struggles for the housing market.

U.S. yields rose as investors tried to assess the path of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve following the mixed data and China’s decision to scale back some of its COVID-related restrictions.

Asian markets recovered from a mixed start, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index .MIAPJ0000PUS rising 0.14%. MKTS/GLOB

Oil prices rose to a three-week high on Tuesday on hopes of demand recovery in China, adding to the worries. Brent crude CLc1 settled near $80 per barrel. O/R

The restart of some U.S. energy plants which were shut due to winter storms offset the gains.

Higher oil prices hurt oil-importing countries like India, where crude constitutes the bulk of the country’s import bill.

Foreign institutional investors sold 8.68 billion rupees ($104.79 million) worth of equities on a net basis on Monday, while domestic investors bought about 6.22 billion rupees ($75.09 million) worth of shares, as per provisional NSE data.

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($1 = 82.8300 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

((Bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com))

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