Indian shares rise, NSE index at over four-month high

A man wearing a protective mask walks past the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India, March 13, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

BENGALURU, Aug 16 (Reuters) – Indian shares traded higher on Tuesday, with the NSE Nifty 50 index trading above 17,800 for the first time since April 8, helped bysoftening consumer inflation that eased for a third straight month in July.

The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was up 0.7% at 17,827.25, as of 0500 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) was 0.7% higher at 59,888.24. Indian markets were closed on Monday for a holiday.

“Inflation data has helped the mood and foreign investors are back in the market,” said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice-president, research, at SMC Global Securities, adding that cooling local commodity prices boosted outlook for second-half of the fiscal year 2022/23.

India’s consumer inflation dipped to 6.71% in July, aided by a slower increase in food and fuel prices and adding to expectations that the central bank may rein in the pace of its policy rate hikes from next month. read more

Auto stocks were up, and the Nifty Auto index (.NIFTYAUTO) hit a record high with its 1.8% gain.

Shares of Hero MotoCorp (HROM.NS) rose as much as 3% after strong June-quarter results.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIFI.NS) rose 2.5% after the country’s biggest insurer posted a 20% jump in June-quarter premium income on Friday.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks struggled for direction, weighed down by worries over global growth following weak China data that knocked oil prices and commodity-linked currencies.

India’s currency and debt markets remained closed on Tuesday for a holiday.

Reporting by Tanvi Mehta in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Neha Arora

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