Indian shares rise as financials gain, blue-chip earnings in focus

Bombay Dyeing And Mfg

23/10/2020 06:05

By Chris Thomas
    BENGALURU, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Indian shares rose on Friday,
driven by gains in banks and conglomerate Reliance Industries,
with investors focused on U.S. stimulus talks and earnings
reports from domestic blue-chip companies due later in the day.
    The NSE Nifty 50 index  .NSEI  rose 0.5% to 11,953.7 by 0444
GMT, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex  .BSESN  was up 0.44% at
40,726.46. Both the indexes were set for weekly gains of more
than 1% each.
    Asian peers were little changed as the final debate between
U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden
offered little to impress investors.  MKTS/GLOB 
    "Markets are going to be on the sidelines until the U.S.
elections are over, since no one really knows what the outcome
is going to be, and progress in stimulus there may depend on the
outcome," said Umesh Mehta, head of research at Samco Securities
in Mumbai.
    "We may see marginal gains in domestic markets in the
absence of any major negative news." 
    In Mumbai, HDFC Bank Ltd  HDBK.NS  and ICICI Bank Ltd
 ICBK.NS  rose 1.2% and 1.8%, respectively, while Reliance
Industries Ltd  RELI.NS , India's largest company, gained 1.3%.
    Investors were awaiting earnings reports from Nifty
components Nestle India Ltd  NEST.NS , Tech Mahindra Ltd
 TEML.NS  and JSW Steel Ltd  JSTL.NS . 
    Corporate results this week, dominated by consumer goods
firms, have been a mixed bag, although most expected a rise in
demand going forward.
    Credit card company SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd
 SBIC.NS  tumbled 10% to a ten-week low after reporting a lower
profit and a sharp drop in asset quality in the September
quarter. 
    The Reserve Bank of India is slated to release the minutes
of the October monetary policy meeting later in the day, which
markets will be watching for further clues on the central bank's
view of the economy and also the stances of new committee
members.

 (Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya
Soni)
 ((chris.thomas@thomsonreuters.com; +91-80-6749-8695; +91
9108-28-4878))