Indian shares rise; financials offset IT losses on visa curb fears

IL&FS Transportation Networks

20/06/2019 06:42

* NSE Index up 0.22%, BSE index 0.27%
    * IT stocks fall, Nifty IT down 1.5%
    * Yes Bank gains over 3% after 2-day fall

    By Derek Francis
    BENGALURU, June 20 (Reuters) - Indian shares recouped early
losses to trade higher on Thursday as gains in financial stocks,
following Fed's rate-cut hints, offset losses in IT counters
triggered by a report of U.S. move to cap H1-B work visas. 
    The U.S. Fed said it was gearing up to face global growth
and economic risks with rate cuts starting as early a next
month. Its comments sent global stocks higher, with the MSCI's
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  rising 0.6%.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N23R0VH
    The broader NSE index  .NSEI  was up 0.22% at 11,716.85 as
of 0442 GMT, while the benchmark BSE index rose 0.27 % at
39,217.01.
    Most domestic sectors were trading higher, led by Nifty
public sector banking and Nifty pharma sectors, which were up
1.23% and 0.83%, respectively.
    "Rate cuts are always good for the market. Inflation is low
and if we need to have a balanced economy, interest rates must
match the inflation," said Madhumita Ghosh, Associate Dean at
Tasmac Global Solutions.
    Meanwhile, the United States told India that it was planning
caps on visas to countries that force foreign companies to store
data locally, three sources with knowledge of the matter told
Reuters.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N23Q1VQ
    The news sent the Nifty IT index  .NIFTYIT  down 1.5% as
sector heavyweights, Infosys  INFY.NS  and Tata Consultancy
Services  TCS.NS , fell between 1.5% and 2%.
    Among the gainers, Yes Bank  YESB.NS  and Indiabulls Housing
Finance  INBF.NS  reversed their losses to move to the top of
the NSE list, gaining over 3.2% and 4%, respectively.
    Other blue-chip gainers for the day included oil marketing
companies such as Indian Oil Corp  IOC.NS  and Bharat Petroleum
Corp  BPCL.NS , which rose over 1% each.
    Apollo Hospitals Enterprise  APLH.NS  shares rose 1.5% after
the company agreed to sell over 51% in Apollo Munich Health
Insurance to India's biggest shadow bank HDFC  HDFC.NS  for
$193.4 million.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N23Q2XY
    Jet Airways  JET.NS  continued to nosedive, falling 12.08%
ahead of its bankruptcy hearing scheduled later in the day.
    Debt-ridden shadow bank IL&FS's arms, IL&FS Transportation
Networks  ILFT.NS  and IL&FS Engineering and Construction
 ILFE.NS , dropped between 4% and 5 % after reports said India's
economic law watchdog was investigating two of its directors.

 (Reporting by Derek Francis in Bengaluru; editing by
Uttaresh.V)
 ((derek.francis@thomsonreuters.com; +91-9986311363; Tweet to
@derekfrancis089 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-francis/;))