Sensex, Nifty rise as financials gain

By Chandini Monnappa
Updated
A man walks past a screen displaying news of markets update inside the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai

By Chandini Monnappa

BENGALURU, (Reuters) - Indian shares jumped on Wednesday, led by gains in financial stocks, as a strong set of quarterly corporate earnings underpinned investor sentiment.

The broader NSE Nifty was up 0.4% at 11,833.80, as of 0449 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.41% higher at 39,996.02.

"Markets from here on will be more stable on expectations of good December quarter earnings," said Siddharth Sedani, head of equity advisory at Anand Rathi Financial Services Ltd in Mumbai.

"Strong set of numbers from some firms like ICICI (Bank), Tata Motors and State Bank of India have helped improve sentiment."

The blue-chip index had risen as much as 0.8% to its highest in over three months in early trade, while the BSE Sensex crossed the 40,000 level for the first time since June before trimming gains.

Meanwhile, broader Asian shares were lower, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shedding 0.33%, as hopes of rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve were offset by concerns over a delay in a partial Sino-U.S. trade deal.

In domestic markets, the Nifty PSU Bank index, which tracks the country's state-run lenders, rose 1%, with shares of Central Bank of India adding over 4%. This comes after the bank approved raising of 33.53 billion rupees ($472.60 million)in capital on Tuesday.

In some respite to telecom stocks, shares of Bharti Airtel Ltd inched up as much as 2.53% and Vodafone Idea Ltd surged over 9% after a ministry source said India had formed a panel to suggest ways to help ease financial pressures on the sector.

Liquefied natural gas exporter Petronet LNG Ltd rose as much as 6.11% after the firm flagged upbeat quarterly results.

IndiGo parent Interglobe Aviation Ltd added as much as 3.31% after the airline placed an order for 300 Airbus A320neo-family jets worth at least $33 billion at recent catalogue prices.

However, the Nifty Auto index declined almost 1%, with shares of Jaguar Land Rover owner Tata Motors slipping 2.85%.

($1 = 70.9475 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)