By Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares rose on Friday, led by information technology stocks, after firm U.S. economic data allayed fears of a recession in the world’s largest economy, spurring a global rally.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.72% at 24,316.48 as of 9:57 a.m. IST, and the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.67% to 79,633.39.
All the 13 major sectors logged gains, led by a 2% rise in the IT index. Indian IT companies earn a significant share of their revenue from the United States.
Recent U.S. economic data, including a benign consumer price inflation reading on Wednesday, strong retail sales print and low weekly jobless claims on Thursday, have alleviated fears of a recession and fuelled a rally across global markets.
The broader, more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps rose about 1% each.
Other Asian markets also logged gains, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rising 1.4%, tracking a positive overnight close on Wall Street. [MKTS/GLOB]
“Investors are looking to capitalise on positive momentum from Wall Street. Traders are adopting a risk-on approach on easing U.S. recession concerns,” said Prashanth Tapse, senior vice president of research at Mehta Equities.
Among individual stocks, auto maker Mahindra & Mahindra rose 3% after launching a five-door variant of its ‘Thar’ model.
Morgan Stanley reiterated its “overweight” rating on the stock, expecting a strong sales jump as it found the new variant “impressive”. The stock was the top gainer on the Nifty 50 and auto index, which rose 1.75%.
Aluminium maker Hindalco Industries gained 2.5% after Macquarie said it expects a negligible impact on the company from a Supreme Court judgement allowing states to levy past tax and royalty dues on mined minerals. Hindalco was among the top five Nifty 50 gainers.
Newly-listed Ola Electric jumped 11% after the company launched new motorcycle models.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Mrigank Dhaniwala and Sonia Cheema)
