By Sethuraman N R
BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares pared early gains on Friday to trade slightly higher, with caution setting in ahead of the outcome of the national elections next week.
The NSE Nifty 50 was up 0.2% at 22,528 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.2% to 74,059 points, as of 10:34 a.m. IST. The benchmarks rose as much as 0.7% in early trade.
India’s weeks-long election will conclude on June 1, with the votes being counted on June 4. Investors are awaiting the exit polls, which project results after voting ends.
Also in focus will be India’s fourth-domestic quarter GDP data due later in the day, which is expected to show the economy grew at a slower pace than the previous three months.
“The market is tantalisingly poised with the possibility of a sharp move based on the exit poll results on Saturday evening,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
The benchmarks saw five straight sessions of losses, ending down nearly 1% on Thursday, as investors trimmed their positions ahead of the election outcome next week in the backdrop of the monthly derivatives’ expiry.
Expiry of the May derivatives showed that foreign investors adopted a cautious approach by adding long positions in single stock futures, hedged with additional index shorts, said Abhilash Pagaria, Head, Nuvama Alternative and Quantitative research.
In contrast, high net-worth investors and retail investors, significantly increased their long positions in both index and single stock futures, he added.
The more domestically focussed small-cap and mid-caps extended declines from the previous session and were down 0.2%, each. They fell over 1% on Thursday.
Shares of India Nippon Electricals surged 12% and Bharat Rasayan jumped 14% on strong quarterly earnings.
Meanwhile, the adjustment in the MSCI’s Global Standard index, which tracks emerging market stocks, is due later in the day, expected to bring in foreign inflows of $2.5 billion.
(Reporting by Sethuraman NR in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami and Janane Venkatraman)
