India's GIFT Nifty was trading at 21,780 points as of 8:22 a.m. IST, suggesting that the NSE Nifty 50 will open above its Saturday session closing of 21,571.80.

Investor focus will be on Zee Entertainment after Sony Group on Monday scrapped plans for a $10 billion merger of its Indian unit with Zee, citing that the "closing conditions" on the merger were not satisfied despite "good faith discussions".

At least five brokerages downgraded Zee to "sell" from "buy" rating post the news.

Both the Nifty 50 and the Sensex fell 1.2% each, last week, in their biggest weekly drop since late October 2023.

India's stock market traded in a full session on Saturday, with the Nifty 50 losing 0.23%, weighed down by information technology companies and Hindustan Unilever on posting a smaller-than-expected profit rise.

Asian shares tracked gains in Wall Street after the latter posted a second straight record high on Monday, boosted by tech stocks. [MKTS/GLOB]

India's Axis Bank - a Nifty 50 constituent - is among companies that are due to report earnings later in the day.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

** Cipla, Indian generic drugmaker reported a higher-than-expected third-quarter profit, aided by strong North American and domestic demand.

** Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on co to stable from negative on signs of robust cash flow in next 12-24 months.

** Hero MotoCorp partners with CG Motors as its distributor in Nepal

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)