By Manvi Pant
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian benchmark indexes notched record high levels on Monday, boosted by strong earnings from banks and energy firms, while also tracking positive global sentiment around hopes of a U.S. September rate cut.
The NSE Nifty and the BSE S&P Sensex were up about 0.2% each as of 10:30 a.m. IST, after hitting record highs earlier in the session.
“A majority of stock movement on the day is led by good earnings. Global risk sentiment fueled by rate cut expectations is also fueling the rally in the Indian market,” said Aishwarya Dadheech, founder and chief investment officer at Fident Asset Management.
ICICI Bank, one of India’s top lenders, jumped about 2% and led gains on the Nifty after reporting a rise in first-quarter net profit.
IndusInd Bank also rose 1.1% after posting a narrower quarterly net interest margin, but within analysts’ expectations.
The heavyweight bank index rose 1%, while the private bank index and financial services index gained 0.97% and 0.5%, respectively.
Meanwhile, state-owned National Power Thermal Corp (NTPC) advanced as much as 3%, fueling gains on the energy index, after it reported higher first-quarter profit and revenue.
Asian shares surged after Wall Street closed higher on Friday as an in-line key inflation reading kept bets of early rate cuts alive. [MKTS/GLOB]
The more domestically-focussed mid- and small-cap added 0.9% and 1.1%, respectively.
(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Savio D’Souza)
