Indian shares set for muted opening; Delta Corp in focus after tax notice

BENGALURU, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Indian shares are expected to start on a subdued note on Monday after benchmarks last week posted their worst performance in several months over fears that global interest rates will remain higher for longer.

Indias GIFT Nifty (.GIFc1) was up 0.25% to 19,692 points at 7:53 a.m. IST on the NSE International Exchange.

The main Nifty 50 (.NSEI) index closed down 0.34% at 19,674.25 points on Friday, while the S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.33% to 66,009.15 points.

Last week was the worst for the Sensex since June 2022, having dropped 2.7%. Meanwhile, the Nifty 50 index recorded its worst week since February.

Shares of Indian casino operator Delta Corp (DELT.NS) are expected to come under pressure after the company said on Friday it received a notice to pay taxes worth 111.4 billion rupees ($1.34 billion) along with interest and penalty for the period between July 2017 to March 2022.

Investors will also keep an eye on surging crude oil prices that will possibly increase inflation in the worlds third-largest importer.

Domestic markets have come under pressure in September with foreign investors offloading over $1 billion worth of shares as of Sept. 21.

Foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth 13.27 billion rupees on a net basis on Friday, while domestic investors bought 8.01 billion rupees, as per provisional stock exchange data.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

** CEAT (CEAT.NS): Co got order issued by tax authorities with demand of 1.07 billion rupees, penalty of 1.07 billion rupees

** Bajaj Finance (BJFN.NS): Co will consider raising funds via qualified institutional placement on Oct. 5

** Abbott India (ABOT.NS): Co has warned of potential supply shortages of two popular laxative syrups after production was prohibited in Indias Goa state

Reporting by Sethuraman NR and Anisha Ajith in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami

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