BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares may kick off November trading on a higher note on Tuesday, after rising for three straight sessions, tracking gains in broader Asia as investors turn focus to the U.S. Federal Reserve policy meeting this week.
India’s NSE stock futures, listed on the Singapore exchange, were 0.61% higher as of 0203 GMT. The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.7%. [MKTS/GLOB]
The NSE Nifty 50 index rose 1.27% to 18,012.20 at close on Monday, while the S&P BSE Sensex finished 1.31% higher at 60,746.59.
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.
Investors this week will be looking for the outcome of the Fed policy meeting and the outlook on future rate hikes path.
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 on the cards. 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.
On the earnings front, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and FSN E-Commerce Ventures Ltd are among the companies expected to report their quarterly results later in the day.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors bought a net 41.79 billion Indian rupees ($504.77 million) worth of equities on Monday, while domestic investors sold 11.07 billion rupees of shares, as per provisional data available with the National Stock Exchange.
Stocks to watch:
** India’s top fuel retailer Indian Oil Corp will marginally cut petrol and diesel prices from Tuesday, according to a notification sent to dealers, reflecting a decline in global oil prices.
** Bharti Airtel Ltd, India’s No.2 telecom carrier by subscribers, reported a bigger-than-expected increase in second-quarter revenue on Monday, helped by 4G subscriber additions and higher revenue per user.
** Automotive lubricant manufacturer Castrol India Ltd reported a flat profit for its third quarter on Monday, as price increases helped it counter the impact of higher input costs and soaring inflation.
** Tata Steel on Monday missed analysts’ quarterly earnings estimates by a wide margin as profit slumped more than 87% due to a drop in steel prices amid a global economic slowdown.
** Infrastructure company Larsen & Toubro Ltd reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit on Monday, on the back of a surge in order inflows.
($1 = 82.7910 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibilty for its content.