Indian shares are set to open marginally higher on Thursday (September 19, 2024) as the U.S. Federal Reserve started its monetary easing cycle with a large 50-basis-point rate cut.

The GIFT Nifty was at 25,453.5 points as of 08:08 a.m. IST, indicating the NSE Nifty 50 will open slightly above its close of 25,377.55 on Wednesday.

The Fed cutting rates could boost the markets to record highs, two analysts said.

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"This rate cut will facilitate inflows to emerging markets like India," said Nilesh Shah, managing director at Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company.

India's information technology and pharma companies, which earn a significant share of their revenue from the U.S., will be in focus.

Other Asian markets rose, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rising 0.25%.

Foreign institutional investors and domestic institutional investors net bought Indian stocks on Wednesday, purchasing ₹11.54 billion ($137.91 million) and 1.52 billion rupees of shares, respectively, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange of India.