INDIA STOCKS-Indian shares set for positive start on talks to end Iran war, strong Reliance earnings

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Indian shares are expected to open higher on Monday as oil prices fell from a six-month high on talks to end the Iran war, while conglomerate Reliance Industries reported higher-than-expected profit for the September quarter.

GIFT Nifty futures were at 23,258.5 as of 7:58 a.m. IST, indicating a positive start for the benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI, which closed at 23,053.1 on Friday.

Brent crude futures dropped to $111 per barrel on Monday from their six-month high of $118 on Friday, as Iranian and Qatari officials held a third straight day of talks aimed at pushing for a deal to end the US-Israeli war on Iran. O/R

"Discussions involving Iranian officials and Qatari mediators have raised hopes of a possible breakthrough that could ease supply concerns and improve the outlook for global energy markets," said Ponmudi R, chief executive officer at stock broking platform Enrich Money.

Foreign investors bought 36 billion rupees ($379.53 million) of Indian shares on Friday, as per provisional data. This would be their sixth session of buying in the last ten trading days, indicating signs of a return after an aggressive selloff so far in 2026.

Indian shares ended a two-month losing streak in October, with the benchmark Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex .BSESN indexes rising 1.9% and 2.7%, respectively, lifted by IT stocks, resilient earnings and hopes of relief on capital gains tax.

Reliance Industries RELI.NS, India's largest company by market cap, beat expectations with a 40.6% surge in quarterly net profit, delivered by strength in its energy and digital services arm Jio Platforms JIOP.NS

Jio Platforms, which made a blockbuster debut last week to become India's second biggest company by market cap, registered 13.7% growth in quarterly net profit.

STOCKS TO WATCH

** Auto companies .NIFTYAUTO will be in focus as most companies reported their wholesale dispatch numbers for October. The country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India MRTI.NS says total sales grew about 21%

** Bharat Electronics BAJE.NS reports about a 20% increase in second-quarter net profit, while revenue jumps 26.5%

** Indian drug regulators ordered Sun Pharmaceutical Industries SUN.NS to stop manufacturing, selling and distributing ophthalmic products made at its Assam facility after finding failure in its quality management system, documents reviewed by Reuters showed

($1 = 94.8551 Indian rupees)