Nifty Seen Opening On A Flat Note; Infosys, Wipro In Focus

The Indian equity benchmarks are set to open on a flat note as indicated by the Nifty futures traded on Singapore Exchange amid mixed cues from Asian markets. The Nifty futures on Singapore Exchange rose 5 points or 0.03 per cent to 15,869. Asian shares held firm on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the US economy was "still a ways off" from levels the central bank wanted to see before tapering its monetary support.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed in early trade while Japan's Nikkei dropped 0.4 per cent.

Overnight, Wall Street shares were mixed, with S&P ending 0.12 per cent higher and Nasdaq down 0.22 per cent.

Back home, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,304 crore on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,336 crore.

Infosys will be in focus after it raised its annual revenue forecast on Wednesday, as the country's second-largest IT services company won more contracts from global businesses expanding their digital offerings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The outlook raise followed a strong first quarter in which the company's profit jumped 22.7 per cent, mirroring upbeat results from bigger rival Tata Consultancy Services and underscoring demand for India's outsourcing service providers.

Infosys said it expects revenue growth of 14 per cent to 16 per cent for the financial year to March 2022, compared with the 12 per cent to 14 per cent growth predicted in April.

Wipro will also be in focus as it will report its June quarter earnings later in the day.