BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indian shares are set to open lower on Thursday, ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's policy meeting at which it is expected to stand pat on interest rates.

The Gift Nifty was trading at 24,199, as of 7:38 a.m IST, indicating that the benchmark Nifty 50 will open below its close of 24,297.5 on Wednesday.

The RBI is expected to keep key policy rates unchanged for a ninth consecutive meeting amid inflationary pressures, but its hawkish 'withdrawal of accommodation' policy stance and comments will be under scrutiny.

"While the RBI is much closer to a stance change than in the previous meeting, we believe it will prefer to keep rates and its policy stance unchanged until it gets more assurance that food inflation is falling sustainably and global markets stabilise," said Pranjul Bhandari, chief India and Indonesia economist at HSBC.

Any dovish commentary on the economy or rates will aid momentum in domestic equities, especially in rate-sensitive sectors such as real estate, auto and banking, analysts said.

India's benchmark indexes Nifty 50 and S&P BSE Sensex snapped a three-session losing streak on Wednesday, and a day late in joining a global rebound as fears of U.S. recession abated.

Asian markets opened lower on Thursday, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index dropping 0.7%.

Wall Street equities closed lower overnight, dragged by technology stocks, as investors remained nervous after a recent steep selloff. [MKTS/GLOB][.N]

Foreign institutional investors (FII) remained sellers of Indian shares for the fourth straight session on Wednesday, offloading a net 202.3 billion rupees ($2.4 billion) of equities, over the period.

Domestic institutional investors (DII) have cushioned the FII outflows, as they purchased 192.8 billion rupees ($2.3 billion) of shares on a net basis, over the last four sessions.

STOCKS TO WATCH

** Godrej Consumer Products misses June-quarter profit estimates, approves entry into pet care business through its arm and an investment of 5 billion rupees over five years.

** Marico says majority of retail distributors resume operations in Bangladesh.

** UPL's unit Advanta gets a favourable verdict from the High Court of Australia on a Class Action suit filed against the company.

** Key earnings today: Eicher Motors, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Oil India.

($1 = 83.9470 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)