BENGALURU, Dec 30 (Reuters) – Indian shares rose on Friday in the final session of 2022, led by a rise in metal stocks, as investor sentiment improved after U.S. data showed that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive monetary policy was easing inflationary pressures.
The Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was up 0.10% at 18,209.20, as of 11:50 a.m. IST, and the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) rose 0.15% to 61,222.71.
Most of the major sectoral indexes logged gains, with metals (.NIFTYMET) rising 1% and information technology (.NIFTYIT) adding 0.5%.
“China opening up is slowly going to instil normalcy in metals demand, and rising renewable energy investments (globally) could spur initial demand for metals,” said Deven Choksey, managing director at KRChoksey Holdings.
Meanwhile, top metals consumer China also announced plans to raise export tariffs on aluminium from Jan. 1, 2023, in a bid to improve domestic demand, which analysts said will aid market-share growth for Indian companies.
Analysts attributed the rise in IT stocks to “bargain hunting after the recent correction in valuations,” and expected December-quarter earnings to be the next major trigger for the sector.
Wall Street equities closed higher overnight, while the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was up 0.35% on the day, after data on Thursday showed U.S. weekly jobless claims rose, indicating the Fed’s rate hikes have had their intended effect on the labour market.
Thirty-three of the Nifty 50 constituents rose with Bajaj Finserv (BJFS.NS), ONGC (ONGC.NS), Bajaj Finance (BJFN.NS) and Tata Steel (TISC.NS) gaining over 2%.
Among individual stocks, transmission tower manufacturer Skipper (SKIP.NS) rose to a more than four-year peak after bagging an order worth 25.70 billion rupees from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd.
($1 = 82.7580 Indian rupees)
Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri, Janane Venkatraman and Eileen Soreng
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