Indian stocks rise on back of earnings, FII buying ahead of US Fed meet

By Bharath Rajeswaran

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indian shares advanced on Tuesday, aided by broader gains across sectors on March-quarter earnings and foreign fund inflows, ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision on Wednesday.

The benchmark Nifty 50 closed 0.46% higher at 18,147.65, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.40% at 61,354.71.

The gains were led by information technology, metals and oil and gas stocks, which rose over 1% each.

The Nifty extended gains to the sixth consecutive session, while the Sensex closed at its highest level since December 20, 2022. The rise in benchmarks coincided with the return of foreign fund flows into Indian equities.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their buying streak for the third session on Friday, adding equities worth 33.04 billion rupees ($403.6 million).

"The strong FII buying will help the market sustain above support levels," said Deven Mehata, equity research analyst at Choice Broking and added "every dip is a buying opportunity for long-term investors."

"Expect this momentum (in domestic equities) to continue and Nifty to head towards 18,200 levels," said Siddhartha Khemkha, head of retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Global equities were subdued ahead of the expected 25 basis-point rate hike by U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday. [MKTS/GLOB]

Among individual stocks, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd jumped nearly 3% after reporting a 13.8% rise in consolidated profit in the March quarter.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd climbed 3.37% and was the top Nifty gainer after the government reduced the windfall tax on crude oil to 4,100 rupees per tonne from 6,400 rupees.

On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp Ltd lost over 2% after posting a decline in total sales in April.

($1 = 81.8720 Indian rupees)

(This story has been refiled to correct the hyperlinks in paragraph 10 and 11)

 

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Varun H K)