(Reuters) -Indian shares opened slightly higher on Monday, led by gains in IT firm Wipro on plans for a bonus share issue, while the domestic inflation print remains in focus for clues about the timing of a possible interest rate cut.
The Nifty 50 index was up 0.3% at 25,049 points as of 9:36 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.4% to 81,696.
The blue-chip indexes have fallen for two consecutive weeks due to worries over an escalation in the Middle East conflict, slowing corporate earnings and foreign outflows.
On the day, 10 of 13 major sub-sectors traded higher, led by a 0.8% rise in the metal index.
Wipro rose 2.6% after it said it would consider issuing bonus shares. Its gains lifted IT companies by 0.4%.
On the flip side, DMart operator Avenue Supermarts slumped 8% after it posted its slowest revenue growth in four years in the September quarter.
Reliance Industries and HCLTech were trading flat. They are due to kick off a results-heavy week with their earnings reports on Monday.
Investor focus will also be on inflation data for September, due after the closing bell. The reading is expected to have overshot the central bank’s target.
The print will be parsed for clues on the timing of a domestic rate cut after the central bank, last week, shifted its policy stance to “neutral”, signalling more openness to reduce borrowing costs as early as December. ($1 = 84.0720 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Savio D’Souza)
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