Indian shares rose on Thursday, boosted by heavyweight information technology and financial stocks, while shares of Reliance Industries fell ahead of its annual general meeting later in the day.
By 0502 GMT, the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.35% at 15,741.80, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.43% to 52,531.
Declining COVID-19 cases, easing of pandemic-led curbs in several states, and a recent record surge in daily vaccinations drove both the indexes to record highs this month. But, they have retreated in the last two sessions in choppy trading as investors locked in gains ahead of Thursday’s expiry of monthly contracts for June.
“Volatility is going to remain in the markets for some period of time,” Pankaj Pandey, head of retail research at ICICI Securities in Mumbai, said, adding that investors will continue to look at the U.S. central bank’s statements on inflation amid a lack of domestic triggers.
Software services firms Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services were among the top boosts to the Nifty 50, helping the Nifty IT index rise 0.96%.
“We have typically seen a build-up in IT stocks a few weeks before their results, and they will remain in the limelight” Pandey said.
The Nifty Bank index added 0.48%, after having fallen in five of the past six sessions.
Conglomerate Reliance Industries slipped 0.9% ahead of its keenly watched annual general meeting scheduled at 0830 GMT.
Speciality Restaurants, the owner of well-known domestic brands such as Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta, gained 6.1% after reporting a March-quarter profit versus a loss a year ago.
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, which runs 70 hospitals across the country, fell 2.6% after reporting a fall in its March-quarter profit. The company also reorganised its offline pharmacy business and digital healthcare platform into a new unit.
Reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V
Source: Reuters