By Rama Venkat
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares had a solid start to November with benchmark indexes scaling over nine-month highs on Tuesday and gains seen across sectors, while investor focus turned to this week’s U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting for cues on future rate hikes.
The NSE Nifty 50 index jumped 0.84% to 18,162.65 as of 0513 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 0.81% at 61,238.91.
Last month, the benchmark indexes added more than 5% each on the back of strong corporate earnings reports and hopes of a less-hawkish stance from major central banks.
“Nifty surpassing the 18,100-mark ended a near seven-month consolidation. This kind of positivity could be because we are discounting possibility of big rate hikes being halted,” said Ajit Mishra, vice president – research at Religare Broking.
“The Fed’s policy meet and RBI’s comments will impact the performance of sensitive stocks. A favourable announcement would result in a further uptick in the rate-sensitive pack, which holds the key for Nifty to inch record highs,” he added.
The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting.
A meeting of the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee is also expected. Scheduled for Nov. 3, the policy-setting committee would potentially discuss its response to the government on its failure to stick to its inflation target for three quarters in a row.
In broader Asia, shares rose in early trade on Tuesday despite mild losses from Wall Street overnight as investors turned their focus to the Fed’s policy meeting for cues on what comes next. [MKTS/GLOB]
In domestic trading, Nifty’s public-sector bank, pharma, and metal indexes were among the top gainers, rising more than 1% each.
Adani Ports and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries were up 0.8% and 1%, respectively, ahead of their quarterly results.
($1 = 82.7910 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Janane Venkatraman)
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