Adds Stocks to Watch after paragraph 11

Nov 27 (Reuters) - India's stock benchmarks are poised to open higher and hit record highs on Thursday, extending a rally on growing expectations of U.S. and domestic interest rate cuts next month.

The Gift Nifty futures GIFc1 were trading at 26,436, as of 07:38 a.m. IST, indicating that the Nifty 50 .NSEI could open above Wednesday's close of 26,205.3 and its previous all-time high of 26,277.35.

The Nifty 50 and Sensex .BSESN previously hit record highs in September 2024.

They have underperformed other Asian and emerging markets in 2025, dragged by subdued earnings over the past year, high valuations, trade and geopolitical uncertainties, which intensified foreign outflows.

However, with improving corporate earnings, eased valuations, tax cuts, rate easing and sustained domestic inflows, the market outlook has turned positive, while foreign selling has also shown signs of moderation.

The Nifty posted its best session in five months, closing at a 14-month high on Wednesday, buoyed by growing conviction in a December U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut and strength in domestic rate-sensitive stocks ahead of a possible Reserve Bank of India easing next week.

Other Asian markets .MIAPJ0000PUS opened higher, rising 0.4%, after gaining about 3% in three sessions on firming U.S. rate cut bets. MKTS/GLOB

Lower U.S. interest rates make emerging markets such as India more attractive for foreign investors, besides boosting the world's largest economy and driving demand for sectors such as information technology.

Foreign portfolio investors bought Indian shares worth 47.78 billion rupees ($536 million) on Wednesday, their highest inflows in a month. Domestic institutional investors purchased stocks worth 62.48 billion rupees, according to provisional data from the NSE.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures LCOc1 traded near $63 per barrel after softening to one-month lows in the previous session, as investors assessed talks over a Russia-Ukraine peace deal and oversupply concerns. O/R

Low oil prices benefit oil marketing, paint, cement and airline companies.

STOCKS TO WATCH

** Paytm's PAYT.NS arm Paytm Payments Services gets Reserve Bank of India's authorisation to operate as a payment aggregator

** Ashoka Buildcon's ABDL.NS arm sells stake in five SPVs at a deal valued at 18.14 billion rupees

** Patel Engineering PENG.NS secures a project valued at 7.98 billion rupees

** Dr. Reddy's Laboratories REDY.NS and Australia's Algorae Pharmaceuticals 1Al.AX sign a distribution deal to supply a chemotherapy medicine to Australian market

($1 = 89.1500 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))