India's equity benchmarks are set to open little changed on Tuesday, as optimism over progress in trade talks with the US helped balance concerns about steep H-1B visa fees.

Gift Nifty futures were trading at 25,256.5 points as of 07:55 a.m. IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 will open near Monday's close of 25,202.35.

On Monday, both the Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex fell, dragged by major information technology stocks that together lost about $10 billion in market value after Washington announced a $100,000 fee on new H-1B applications.

Sentiment improved, however, after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio underscored the importance of ties with India during talks with External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

"Ind

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