(Updates opening levels)
BENGALURU, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Indian shares opened higher
on Friday, aided by a rise in financials and optimism that the
rate hike cycle may be near its end after global central banks
hinted at inflation easing, while the ongoing rout in Adani
group stock capped gains.
The Nifty 50 index rose 0.25% to 17,655, while the
S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.47% to 60,208.89, as of 09:52
a.m. IST.
High weightage financials rose over 1% ahead
of earnings of the country's largest lender State Bank of India and after clarification from life insurers SBI Life and HDFC Life , addressing investor concerns
regarding the latest budget proposals.
Thirty-one of the Nifty 50 stocks rose with Titan , IndusInd Bank , Bajaj Finance , SBI
Life and SBI among the top gainers.
Adani stocks declined, extending the ongoing selloff in
the conglomerate's stocks which has caused a rout of over $100
billion in market capitalisation after the Hindenburg report on
Jan. 24, keeping a check on the upbeat mood.
The National Stock Exchange has put Adani Enterprises,
Adani Ports and Ambuja Cements under an additional surveillance
measure (ASM) framework after the recent selloff.
The rise in domestic equities is also spurred by dovish
comments from global centrals banks. After the U.S. Federal
Reserve acknowledged in its monetary policy meeting on Wednesday
that the disinflationary process may have begun, the European
Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) followed suit a
day later.
The Fed hiked the key interest rate by 25 basis points,
while the ECB and BoE raised it by 50 bps each and signalled
that the tide was turning against inflation.
The Reserve Bank of India is expected to raise the key
policy repo rate by 25 bps at its policy meeting on Feb. 8,
beginning the end of almost a year-long tightening cycle.
($1 = 82.0940 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by
Janane Venkatraman and Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
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