BENGALURU, March 22 (Reuters) - Indian shares were set to open higher on Wednesday, tracking a rise in global peers as concerns over banking from Credit Suisse rescue eased further, while investors await the U.S. Federal Reserve rate decision later in the day.
India's NSE stock futures listed on the Singapore exchange were up 0.21% at 17,180 as of 8:28 a.m. IST.
U.S. and European equities extended gains on Tuesday as concerns over a global banking crisis further eased after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen vowed to protect depositors in smaller banks after the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were up 1.15%.
Global markets now await the Fed decision, which comes amid contagion risks in banking. The odds of a 25-basis-points (bps) hike are 84.9%.
The Swiss government-backed takeover of Credit Suisse by USB, over the weekend, eased concerns over financial stability, for the time being. Still, the strains in the financial sector are evident.
Shares of First Republic Bank slid on suggestions of government involvement in a rescue deal. Last week, U.S. banks pumped $30 million in deposits into First Republic Bank.
Foreign institutional investors (FII) extended their selling streak to a ninth straight session on Tuesday, selling a net 14.55 billion rupees ($176.04 million) of equities.
Stocks to Watch:
** Tata Motors: Co to hike price of commercial vehicles by up to 5% from April 1.
** Ashiana Housing: Co crossed annual booking value guidance of 11 bln rupees for 2022-23.
** HG Infra Engineering: Co declared as lowest bidder for project worth 6.77 bln rupees.
** SBI Cards: Co declares interim dividend of 2.5 rupees per share.
($1 = 82.6500 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
