Indian shares opened higher on Wednesday, tracking a rebound in global markets after U.S. inflation data came in line with expectations, improving the odds of a smaller rate hike at the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting. The Nifty 50 index was up 0.72% at 17,167.20, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.71% to 58,314.12 as of 9:31 a.m. IST. All the major sectoral indexes advanced, with high weightage financials and information technology rising 1% and 0.80%, respectively.
The rise in domestic markets follows a rebound in global equities, after favourable U.S. inflation data bolstered bets of a smaller interest rate hike by the Fed, at its meeting next week.
Wall Street equities snapped a losing streak overnight, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 1.26%. Domestic and global equities had witnessed selling pressure over the last few sessions as sentiment suffered following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the United States.
Indian shares hit a five-month low on Tuesday after falling for four straight sessions, shedding over 4%, after the U.S. banking crisis sparked a global selloff among lenders.
Forty-five of the Nifty 50 constituents advanced. Among
individual stocks, PNC Infratech rose over 3% after
the company was declared the lowest bidder for project worth
12.60 billion rupees. NBCC (India) climbed 4% after
securing a work order of 5 billion rupees.
($1 = 82.2600 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Nishit Navin and Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru;
Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
