BENGALURU, May 31 (Reuters) - Indian shares will likely

open higher on Friday, following five straight session of

losses, although caution ahead of the results of the national

election next week is expected to keep gains in check.

The Gift Nifty was trading at 22,682 points as of

07:53 a.m. IST, indicating the benchmark Nifty 50 will

open higher than its previous close of 22,488.

India's elections, which began on April 19, will conclude on

June 1 and votes will be counted on June 4. Investors are

awaiting the exit polls, which project results after voting

ends.

Also in focus will be India's fourth-domestic quarter GDP

data due later in the day, where the economy is expected to have

grown at a slower pace than the previous three months.

The Nifty and Sensex ended down for a fifth

straight session on Thursday, and have fallen 2% so far this

week. They are on track for their worst since March.

At least three analysts attributed the selling this week to

some investors trimming their positions ahead of the election

outcome.

Nervousness ahead of exit polls and weak global cues

continue to dent sentiment, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head -

Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Meanwhile, the adjustment in MSCI's Global Standard index,

which tracks emerging market stocks, is due later in the day.

Most of the price action is baked in and Friday will be more

of a liquidity event in the last thirty minutes, said Abhilash

Pagaria, head of Nuvama Alternative and Quantitative Research.

Asian markets inched up, while Wall Street indices closed

lower overnight, with investors eyeing a key inflation data in

the U.S. for interest rate trajectory.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

Apollo Hospitals Enterprise: Reports smaller than

expected rise in quarterly profit

Muthoot Finance: Reports bigger than expected

quarterly profit on strong loan growth

(Reporting by Sethuraman NR and Nishit Navin in Bengaluru;

Editing by Varun H K)