By Rama Venkat
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares trimmed early gains on Wednesday, as losses in metals countered gains in bank and consumer stocks, and investors awaited U.S. inflation data this week for cues on the Federal Reserve’s future rate hikes.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was 0.07% higher to 18,214.90 as of 0504 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.04% to 61,210.64, after rising over 0.4% each.
“Domestic markets at these levels have already factored in results,” said Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
“While the positive momentum is still there, it will not move up in a hurry as the U.S Fed is not done with its rate hike cycle yet. Data points are still coming in which could influence that.”
Since the start of the earnings season last month, the benchmark indexes have added more than 5% each so far, after strong reports from top IT, bank, and consumer goods companies.
Investor focus is now on a key U.S. inflation reading due on Thursday, which is expected to show easing consumer prices and provide hints to the Fed’s rate outlook.
In domestic trading, Nifty’s public sector bank and FMCG indexes were 2.3% and 0.6% higher, respectively. Nifty’s metal index was among the top losers, declining 0.3%.
Adani Ports was the top gainer on the Nifty 50 index, while Coal India Ltd rose as much as 5.6% to hit an over-3-year high after the miner’s quarterly profit more than doubled.
Tata Motors Ltd and Petronet LNG Ltd were up 0.5% and 0.05%, respectively, while Lupin Ltd was down 2.4%, ahead of their quarterly results.
In broader Asia, shares rose on Wednesday as investors awaited U.S. inflation data along with the results of the U.S. midterm elections that could signify a power shift in Washington. [MKTS/GLOB]
($1 = 81.3700 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Janane Venkatraman)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.