By Bharath Rajeswaran
(Reuters) -India’s benchmark indexes rose on Friday, led by Larsen & Toubro, while expectations of favourable triggers from the upcoming federal budget also aided sentiment.
The Nifty 50 was up 0.63% at 23,396.85 points as of 10:33 a.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex added 0.53% to 77,160.25.
Both indexes were on track for a fourth straight session of gains. They have risen 1.8% over the previous three sessions.
Indian infrastructure sector bellwether Larsen & Toubro rose 4.3% after its orders reached an all-time high, driven by strong performance in its international business.
IT firms added 0.6%, while financials trade flat after three sessions of gains. An index of state-owned firms rose 1.4% on expectations of increased budgetary allocations to public sector companies.
Markets now await the annual budget, scheduled for Feb. 1, for key directional triggers. India’s equity markets will remain open for trading on Saturday.
“While a focus on fiscal consolidation could limit government spending, the budget is expected to focus on welfare measures, agriculture, infrastructure and manufacturing,” said Sonam Srivastava, founder and fund manager at Wright Research PMS.
“Budget announcement could trigger heightened volatility due to knee-jerk market reactions to expectations,” Srivastava said.
The more domestically focussed smallcaps and midcaps rose 1% each.
Among individual stocks, Tata Consumer gained 4%, despite posting a smaller-than-expected third-quarter profit, with analysts attributing the move to growth in the company’s tea and salt business, along with its international segment.
Bank of Baroda fell 3.7%, on likely pressure on net interest margins.
Despite recent gains, the Nifty and Sensex are down 1.2% in January and are on track for their longest monthly losing streak in 23 years, while the small and midcap indexes have fallen 11% and 7%, respectively.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Varun H K)
