By Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares rose on Wednesday, ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve rate decision, as concerns of a banking crisis eased further after the Credit Suisse rescue.
The Nifty 50 index was up 0.18% at 17,137.60, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.17% to 58,168.80 as of 10:56 a.m. IST.
Twelve of the 13 major sectoral indexes advanced with auto stocks and public sector banks rising 0.7% and 1%, respectively.
The rise follows an uptick in global equities as concerns over a banking crisis further eased after U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen vowed to protect depositors in smaller banks following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.
The Swiss government-backed takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS over the weekend eased concerns over financial stability, for the time being.
Global markets now await the Fed decision, which comes amid contagion risks in banking. The odds of a 25-basis-points (bps) hike are 89.3%.
Most analysts expect the Fed to hike rate by 25 bps and continue with its fight against inflation, but Goldman Sachs said a pause would be “warranted”.
“The recent turmoil in banking is an unintended consequence of the Fed’s steep rate hikes,” said Deven Choksey, managing director at KRChoksey Holdings.
Information technology (IT) companies, which earn a significant share of their revenue from the U.S. and Europe, could see short-term pressure due to banking stress, according to three analysts.
“Most Indian IT firms have around 30% exposure to Banking Financial Services and Insurance segment in the West. If banking crisis spreads, it will hurt I.T. firms,” Narendra Solanki, head of equity research, Anand Rathi Shares & Stockbrokers.
Among individual stocks, Bandhan Bank rose nearly 4% after approving transfer of 26.14 bln rupees loans outstanding and 23.16 mln rupees worth non-performing assets to asset reconstruction company.
Sobha fell to a nine-month low after the company said that income tax department conducted raids at its offices.
($1 = 82.6500 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Nivedita Bhattacharjee)
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