By Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares advanced on Tuesday, aided by broad-based gains across sectors, driven by March-quarter earnings, as investors await the interest rate decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday.
The Nifty 50 was up 0.49% to 18,153.10 as of 9:51 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.45%.
Twelve of the 13 major sectoral indexes advanced, with the high-weightage financials and information technology stocks rising 0.5% and 1%, respectively.
The benchmark Nifty 50 index rose over 4% in April, its best month since November 2022. The index, which gained 2.5% last week, moved into overbought territory for the first time in nearly five months on Friday.
“Every dip can be a buying opportunity until the Nifty closes below 17,820 levels,” said Deven Mehata, equity research analyst at Choice Broking. “The strong FII buying will help the market sustain above support levels.”
Foreign institutional investors extended their buying streak for the third session and added equities worth 33.04 billion rupees ($202.34 million) on Friday.
“Expect this momentum (in domestic equities) to continue and Nifty to head towards 18,200 levels,” said Siddhartha Khemkha, head of retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.
Wall Street equities closed slightly lower overnight after data showed U.S. construction spending rose more than expected in March, indicating strength in economic spending. This set the stage for a rate hike on Wednesday. Asian equities are subdued. [MKTS/GLOB]
Among individual stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd surged 5% after reporting a year-on-year rise in consolidated profit in the March quarter.
Rossari Biotech jumped 7% and Satin Creditcare Ltd surged 20%, also on the back of robust March quarter results.
On the flip side, Atul Auto Ltd lost nearly 10% after posting a 55.1% fall in total sales.
($1 = 81.6950 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)
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