By Bharath Rajeswaran
(Reuters) -India’s benchmark indexes inched higher on Wednesday, led by energy stocks, although worries over slowing earnings capped the gains on the blue-chip indexes.
The Nifty 50 was up 0.25% at 23,232 points as of 10:31 a.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex added 0.39% to 76,795.81.
The Nifty has fallen 2% so far in January and is nearly 12% below a record high hit on Sept. 27, 2024.
Other Asian markets were muted on the day, while Wall Street closed higher overnight as U.S. Treasury yields dipped after U.S. producer prices rose less than expected in December. [MKTS/GLOB]
Investors now await key U.S. consumer price data, due after Indian market hours on Wednesday. The data could influence the Federal Reserve’s rate cut trajectory and impact foreign flows into emerging markets such as India.
“A pause in the global bond selloff (following the producer prices data) has taken some wind out of the U.S. dollar’s sails and has allowed domestic equities to regain their footing temporarily,” said Vikram Kasat, head of advisory at PL Capital.
However, investors will continue to be on tenterhooks due to concerns around moderating earnings on the heels of a slowdown in India’s economic growth, analysts said.
Ten of the 13 major sectors advanced on Wednesday. The broader, more domestically focussed smallcaps and midcaps rose about 0.3% each.
Reliance Industries – the second-heaviest stock on the benchmark indexes – rose 1%, lifting the energy index 1.4% higher.
The energy index has gained about 4% in two sessions after dropping about 7.2% in the previous four.
HDFC Asset Management advanced 4.2% as multiple brokerages raised their target price on the stock after the company reported a higher quarterly profit.
BSE, Asia’s oldest stock exchange, rose 5.4% after Nuvama initiated coverage with a “buy” rating, citing the potential for sustained earnings growth.
($1 = 86.5820 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
