Indian markets set for muted open as Middle East tensions spur caution

June 20 (Reuters) - India's equity benchmarks are poised for a subdued start on Friday, in line with broader Asian markets, as escalating tensions between Israel and Iran continue to rattle global investor sentiment.

The Gift Nifty futures were trading at 24,777.5, as of 7:46 a.m. IST, indicating that the Nifty 50 will open near the previous close of 24,793.25.

Both the Nifty and Sensex indexes ended flat in the previous session, while the broader markets fell on risk-aversion mode.

Asian peers opened subdued on Friday after reports that Israel had bombed Iranian nuclear sites, triggering retaliatory missile and drone strikes from Iran.

The White House said U.S. President Donald Trump would decide within two weeks whether the U.S. would back Israel militarily. Wall Street equities were closed on Thursday.

"Investors are treading cautiously, with fears of U.S. involvement adding a fresh layer of uncertainty to an already volatile environment," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Domestic institutional investors (DII) remained net buyers of Indian stocks for the 23rd consecutive session on Thursday, with net inflows of 11.13 billion rupees ($128 million) in the previous session, cushioning volatile foreign flows and lending liquidity support to the markets.

STOCKS TO WATCH

** Mastek launches ADOPT.AI, a comprehensive suite of AI solutions aimed at driving enterprise-wide AI adoption

** Nestle India says it will consider issuing bonus shares at a board meeting scheduled on June 26

** ITD Cementation secures contracts worth 9.6 billion rupees

** HDFC Bank's unit HDB Financial Services sets a price band of 700-740 rupees per share for its initial public offering; issue to run from June 25-27

($1 = 86.8130 Indian rupees)

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