Indian shares close at record highs as services sector picks up in January

Bajaj Consumer Care

03/02/2021 10:00

BENGALURU, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Indian shares ended at record
closing highs on Wednesday, extending a post-budget rally on
gains in financial stocks after a survey showed that the
country's dominant services sector picked up in January.
    The NSE Nifty 50 index  .NSEI  rose 0.97% to 14,789.95,
while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex  .BSESN  was up 0.92% at
50,255.75. Both the indexes touched record intra-day highs
earlier in the session after rising as much as 1.5% and 1.46%
respectively.
    The Nikkei/IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index
 INPMIS=ECI  rose to 52.8 in January from 52.3 in December,
staying above the 50-level mark separating growth from
contraction for the fourth straight month.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nZRN000VNL
    Home loan provider Housing Development Finance Corp
 HDFC.NS  rose 1.7% and was the top boost to the index. 
    Gains in lenders HDFC Bank  HDBK.NS  and Axis Bank  AXBK.NS 
of 0.9% and 2.7% helped the Nifty Bank index  .NSEBANK  end the
day 1.4% higher.
    Venky's  VENK.NS , the country's biggest poultry producer,
jumped as much as 16% after swinging to a profit of 1.07 billion
rupees in the third quarter.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2K9228
    Drugmaker Dr.Reddy's Laboratories  REDY.NS , which has a
partnership to distribute Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine
in India, ended the day 3.7% higher after the company said it
will seek emergency-use authorisation for the vaccine by next
month.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2JT1LX
    Personal care products maker Bajaj Consumer Care  BACO.NS 
rose 20% after its quarterly profit rose 17.5% to 573 million
rupees.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2K92B7
    Shares in Future Retail  FRTL.NS  fell 5% after a court
blocked Future Group's retail asset sale to Mukesh Ambani-led
conglomerate Reliance Industries  RELI.NS  on objections raised
by U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc  AMZN.O .
    That prompted Future to warn that if it is unable to sell
the assets, $4 billion in bank loans and debentures would be at
risk, pushing its retail unit into insolvency.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2K91BQ

 (Reporting by Philip George in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh
Kuber and Maju Samuel)
 ((P.george@thomsonreuters.com))