The Nifty 50 index rose 0.19% to 17,426.30, while the S&P BSE Sensex edged 0.20% higher to 59,410.50 as of 9:50 a.m. IST. Nine of the 13 sectoral indexes advanced with auto stocks adding nearly 1%. Media index rose more than 1%, powered by Zee Entertainment , which climbed as much as 6.48%.
The company's F&O contracts with May 2023 expiry will be available for trading from Feb. 28 after NCLT stayed insolvency proceedings. On the flip side, metal stocks fell over 1.5% and was the top sectoral loser on fears of price correction in non-ferrous metals and potential cuts in steel manufacturing in China due to environmental concerns.
Investors await domestic GDP data for the December quarter, due later in the day. The Indian economy likely grew 4.6% year-on-year, according to a Reuters poll of economists, slower than the 6.3% growth seen in the previous quarter. Growth in the latest quarter was hobbled by weak global demand and monetary tightening by the Reserve Bank of India. All three major Wall Street indexes advanced on Monday on bargain hunting. Official data showed core capital goods orders accelerated more than expected in January, suggesting that business spending on equipment picked up. The new data reinforced fears that the Federal Reserve could hike interest rates to a higher level than currently estimated.
($1 = 82.6680 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by
Janane Venkatraman and Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
