INDIA STOCKS-Indian shares set for muted start, sentiment subdued on US-Iran tensions

Feb 20 (Reuters) - India's equity benchmarks are likely to open little changed on Friday, but sentiment is expected to remain subdued amid a jump in oil prices to a six-month high due to U.S.-Iran tensions.

The Gift Nifty futures GIFc1 were trading at 25,426.5 points as of 7:47 a.m. IST, indicating the benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI will open near Thursday's close of 25,454.35.

The Nifty 50 and Sensex slid about 1.5% on Thursday, marking their biggest daily drop in over two weeks amid simmering tensions in the Middle East. The benchmarks are down marginally for the week.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran on Thursday that it must make a deal over its nuclear program or "really bad things" will happen, and set a deadline of 10 to 15 days, drawing a threat from Tehran to retaliate against U.S. bases in the region if attacked.

Brent crude oil prices rose to $71.87 per barrel on Friday, extending their three-day gains to 6.6% amid tensions in the key oil-producing region. O/R

Higher crude prices are a negative for India as it is the world's third-largest crude oil importer.

Both foreign and domestic institutional investors were net sellers of Indian equities on Thursday, offloading 8.8 billion rupees and 5.96 billion rupees worth of shares, respectively.

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