May 25 (Reuters) - Indian shares are set to open higher on Monday, as crude oil prices fall below $100 per barrel for the first time in more than two weeks on prospects of a deal to end the Iran war.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Washington and Iran had "largely negotiated" a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which carried a fifth of global oil and LNG shipments before the war.

However, the Trump administration on Sunday played down hopes of an imminent breakthrough in the three-month-old war.

GIFT Nifty futures GIFc1 were at 23,952, as of 7:42 a.m. IST, indicating the benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI would open above Friday's close of 23,719.3.

Asian stock markets .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 1.2% and Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 4% at $99.39 per barrel on optimism that a peace deal was near. MKTS/GLOB O/R

The Nifty 50 and the Sensex .BSESN have declined 5.8% and 7.2%, respectively, since the Iran war broke out in late February.

Foreign investors sold 44.4 billion rupees ($464.00 million) worth of Indian shares on Friday, as per provisional data. They have offloaded $23.9 billion of shares so far this year, surpassing 2025's record annual outflows.

STOCKS TO WATCH

** Index provider FTSE to add six Indian companies to FTSE All-World and FTSE All-Cap indexes effective June 22. These companies are Tata Capital TATC.NS, Lenskart Solutions LENS.NS, LG Electronics India LGEL.NS, Meesho MEES.NS, ICICI Prudential Asset Management IICL.NS and Groww BILO.NS.

** Aluminium producer Hindalco HALC.NS posted a surprise drop in quarterly profit, as expenses linked to a fire-related disruption at U.S. unit Novelis offset the benefit of higher base metal prices.

** Royal Enfield maker Eicher Motors EICH.NS beat quarterly profit estimates, as last year's tax cuts boosted demand for its high-margin 350-cc motorcycles.

($1 = 95.6900 Indian rupees)