Indian shares end higher on boost from metals, banks

A general view of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), after Sensex surpassed the 50,000 level for the first time, in Mumbai, India, January 21, 2021. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

BENGALURU, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Indian shares closed higher on Monday on gains in metals and banking stocks after logging their second straight weekly loss in the previous session, while investors eyed an OPEC+ meeting later in the day for the direction of oil prices.

The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was up 0.72% at 17,665.80 at close, and the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) rose 0.75% to 59,245.98.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, will discuss oil output cuts of 100,000 barrels per day among other options, sources from the group told Reuters ahead of the gathering. read more

Most of the major Nifty sub-indexes settled higher, with the metal (.NIFTYMET), private bank (.NIFPVTBNK) and bank indexes (.NSEBANK) among the top performers, rising between 1% and 1.7%.

Helping sentiment, foreign investors bought about $245 million worth of Indian equities this month through Friday, Refinitiv data showed, after pouring $6.44 billion last month to mark their biggest monthly net buying since December 2020.

“With expectations of monetary tightening by central banks this month, we can’t expect this rally to sustain. It is more a wait-and-watch situation as far as our market is concerned,” said Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Securities.

Aluminium and copper producer Hindalco Industries (HALC.NS) and JSW Steel (JSTL.NS) were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 index, advancing 3.5% and 3.1%, respectively.

Shares of China’s Ant Group (688688.SS)-backed digital payments firm Paytm (PAYT.NS) closed 2.5% lower. Federal financial crime-fighting agency said on Saturday it was searching the premises of online payment companies, including Paytm, as part of an investigation of Chinese-controlled firms. read more

Federal Bank (FED.NS) ended 3.4% higher after hitting a record high in the session on report of initial talks of a merger with Kotak Mahindra Bank (KTKM.NS). Federal Bank in a filing to the exchange said the report was speculative. Kotak Mahindra closed nearly 1% higher. (https://bit.ly/3cHSsS8)

Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru and additional reporting by Gaurav Dogra; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Sriraj Kalluvila

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