By Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares rose for the seventh consecutive session on Tuesday, aided by financials stocks on strong quarterly updates, ahead of corporate earnings for the March quarter.
The Nifty 50 closed 0.56% higher at 17,722.30, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.52% to 60,157.72. This is the longest winning streak for both indexes in over four months.
Ten of the 13 major sectoral indexes advanced, with high-weightage financials rising over 1% and leading the gains.
The bank index rose 1.3%, and the public sector bank index added 1.61%, aided by a near-3% uptick in shares of state-owned lender Bank of Baroda Ltd.
Several global brokerages reiterated “buy” on the lender, after it reported a 19% YoY rise in total advances for the March quarter.
Kotak Mahindra Bank surged almost 5% on hopes of inflows from a likely MSCI weightage hike.
Bajaj Auto jumped nearly 3% to a 21-month high after taking over all of British bike maker Triumph Motorcycles’ sales and marketing operations in India.
Corporate earnings, scheduled from Tuesday, will be the near-term trigger for markets, according to analysts.
Casino gaming firm Delta Corp Ltd will report its Q4 earnings on Tuesday, followed by top information technology firm Tata Consultancy Services Ltd on Wednesday.
J.P. Morgan recently said that TCS and Infosys Ltd have highest exposure to regional banks in the United States that are gripped under financial turmoil.
The IT index was the top sectoral loser, shedding 1.26%.
“The undertone of the market remains positive on expectation of healthy Q4 earnings, ahead of key macro data” said Siddhatha Khemka, head – retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
India’s consumer inflation likely eased in March to 5.80%, dipping below the RBI’s upper tolerance limit for the first time in 2023, according to a Reuters poll of economists. The data is due on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)
