By Bharath Rajeswaran
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares advanced for the second straight session on Wednesday, in tandem with global markets, on easing U.S. rate concerns following further dovish comments by key Federal Reserve officials and stability in oil prices.
The NSE Nifty 50 index settled 0.62% higher at 19,811.35, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.60% to 66,473.05.
Global equities advanced after Atlanta Fed Bank President Raphael Bostic said the central bank does not need to raise rates further and that the Fed does not expect a recession.
The remarks, which followed dovish comments by other key Fed officials on Monday, eased worries over further rate hikes. [MKTS/GLOB]
Brent crude futures traded below $88 per barrel on Wednesday, although the military conflict in the Middle East poses looming risk to a spike.
“Dovish comments from Fed officials, weakening U.S. dollar, fall in U.S. treasury yields, hopes of China stimulus and strong domestic macroeconomic fundamentals are key positive catalysts for markets,” said Prashant Tapse, senior vice president (research) at Mehta Equities.
Meanwhile, global brokerage CLSA increased its exposure to Indian equities, citing prospects of strong economic growth, robust earnings and credit demand.
Investors await September quarter earnings, scheduled to begin on Wednesday with the results of top information technology firm Tata Consultancy Services. TCS, which is also considering a share buyback, shed 0.52% ahead of the results.
Eleven of the 13 major sectoral indexes logged gains. High-weightage financials rose about 0.5%, while auto stocks added 0.92%.
Realty stocks climbed 0.84%, extending their rally following strong business updates from key constituents and the central bank’s rate pause on Friday.
Among individual stocks, Zomato jumped to a 21-month high after domestic brokerage ICICI Securities raised its target price on expectations of profit growth.
Bank of Baroda fell 3.31% after the Reserve Bank of India barred the lender from adding customers to its mobile app.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng, Savio D’Souza and Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
