REUTERS - Indian shares rose for a third straight session on Wednesday and hit their highest in more than a year after recent positive corporate results, including that of Whirlpool of India Ltd, raised optimism ahead of the release of economic growth data later in the day.
India's gross domestic product growth likely slowed in the June quarter, according to economists polled by Reuters, though still posting one of the world's fastest growth rates.
Good economic growth could continue to attract foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who have bought a net $1.27 billion in August, according to Thomson Reuters data.
The gains over the past three sessions have helped Nifty add about 1.7 percent this month in what could be its sixth consecutive monthly gain, the longest streak since the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2014 sparked seven straight months of gains.
"FII numbers were largely muted last week, with marginal negative inflows but since Monday, the provisional numbers have risen significantly," said Vinod Nair, head of research with Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Securities.
"This is a good sign ahead of the F&O expiry."
Nifty was up 0.45 percent at 8,783.80 as of 0708 GMT after hitting its highest since April 15, 2015 earlier in the session.
Sensex was up 0.23 percent at 28,409.32 after hitting its highest since July 23, 2015. It has gained around 1.3 percent for the month.
Shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank rose as much as 2.65 percent to a record high of 807 rupees after the Reserve Bank of India granted approval to the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to acquire shares in excess of 5 percent but below 10 pct of the paid-up capital of the company.
Whirlpool India rose as much as 2 percent after the company reported a 26 percent jump in its June-quarter net profit.
UltraTech Cement rose as much as 4.4 percent to a record high of 4,063.9 rupees after the RBI said foreign investors could invest up to 30 per cent in the company.
Auto and bank stocks were the biggest gainers on Nifty, with Tata Motors up around 3.1 percent, while IndusInd Bank rose 2.3 percent.
(Reporting by Arnab Paul in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
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