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Oct 31 (Reuters) - India's equity benchmarks are poised to open higher on Friday and close October with strong gains, buoyed by optimism over corporate earnings, foreign inflows and easing global trade tensions. Gift Nifty futures were trading at 26,064.5 points as of 7:37 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 (.NSEI), opens new tab will open above Thursday's close of 25,877.85. Sign up here. Nifty and Sensex (.BSESN), opens new tab lost about 0.7% each in the last session after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell cast doubts on a December rate cut following this week's 25-basis-points reduction, while caution over a U.S.-China trade deal weighed on other Asian markets. Despite the drop, the Nifty and Sensex have gained about 5.2% each in October - eyeing their best month since March - and are trading nearly 1.5% and 1.8%, respectively, below their all-time highs hit in September 2024. Foreign investors have bought Indian shares worth $1.94 billion in October, after three consecutive months of selling, securities depository data showed. Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed, with MSCI's broadest index for Asia-Pacific stocks outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab trading flat. MSCI/GLOB "Across Asia, the market tone is largely uneven, with investors treading cautiously ahead of the weekend," said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money. Among stocks, oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries (RELI.NS), opens new tab will be in focus after partnering with Google to offer free Gemini AI services for 18-month to all Reliance Jio's 505 million telecom users. STOCKS TO WATCH ** Consumer goods major ITC (ITC.NS), opens new tab tops September-quarter profit estimate, propelled by solid growth in its cigarettes and packed goods businesses ** Swiggy (SWIG.NS), opens new tab posts a narrower second-quarter loss and improved margins on a sequential basis, as strong growth in its quick commerce arm partly offset the still-high investments in the business ** Dabur India (DABU.NS), opens new tab misses quarterly profit estimate as consumption tax cuts disrupt sales, but remains optimistic about sequential recovery in demand Reporting by Vivek Kumar M; Editing by Sumana Nandy
