BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares climbed to over five-month highs on Thursday, driven by top banking stocks that hit all-time peaks, even as investors weighed the possibility of a large rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve next week.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.33% at 18,064.05, as of 0401 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.38% to 60,575.76.
The Nifty Bank index climbed 1.1% to a record high and was set for its sixth straight session of gains.
The country’s largest lender State Bank of India and private sector rival ICICI Bank were at all-time highs.
Carmaker Maruti Suzuki India was the biggest percentage gainer on the Nifty 50, rising as much as 3% to a two-week high.
Meanwhile, Fitch cut India’s gross domestic product growth forecast for the current fiscal year to 7% from 7.8%, in the backdrop of a slowdown amid global economic stress, elevated inflation and tighter monetary policy.
(Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Neha Arora)
