Indian shares are set to open flat on Tuesday, as caution prevails amid a wider Middle East conflict, while investors may remain on the sidelines ahead of local quarterly earnings and a rate decision by the Reserve Bank of India.

The GIFT Nifty was trading at 24,864 points, as of 8:00 a.m. IST, indicating that the NSE Nifty 50 will open near its previous close of 24,795.75.

Both the benchmark indexes logged losses for six consecutive sessions, their longest daily losing streak in a year, after the escalation in the Middle East war sapped risk appetite and as foreign investors withdrew funds, likely to invest in China.

Other Asian markets opened lower, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index shedding 1.8%.

Wall Street equities closed lower overnight. Foreign institutional investors (FII) were net sellers for sixth session in a row on Monday.

They have offloaded share worth 500.13 billion rupees ($5.96 billion) over the period.

“The markets have been experiencing significant profit-booking recently, alongside a large sell-off by foreign investors.

Indian shares set to open higher

This has unsettled investor sentiment, creating a more cautious and risk-averse atmosphere,“ said Narendra Solanki, head of fundamental research of invest services at Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers.

Commentary by the RBI on Wednesday and the corporate earnings season starting later in the week will be key triggers to likely influence the trajectory of markets in the near term, three analysts said.