India Stocks: Indian shares extend gains on softer oil, strong earnings

KRBL

Tue 04:11

Updates for morning trade
By Bharath Rajeswaran
Nov 3 (Reuters) - Indian shares advanced on Tuesday, building on three sessions of gains, as strong company earnings, easing crude oil prices and early signs of foreign investors returning to India aided investor sentiment.
The benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI added 0.76% to 23,622.25, while the Sensex .BSESN rose 0.92% to 76,385.48 by 9:32 a.m. IST (0402 GMT).
The Nifty 50 and Sensex jumped 1.7% on Monday to their highest levels in over five weeks and eight weeks, respectively.
Other Asian markets were subdued ahead of the start of voting for US midterm elections. MKTS/GLOB
On the day, 14 of the 16 major sectors logged gains at the open. The broader small-caps .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 rose 0.4% and 0.7%, respectively.
Brent crude LCOc1 traded flat at about $105 a barrel after dropping 7% in the previous session as talks between Iran and Qatari mediators lifted hopes for an end to the US-Israeli war with Iran. 
Foreign portfolio investors were net buyers in Indian markets on Monday, with inflows of 31.15 billion rupees  ($328.24 million, while domestic institutional investors sold off shares worth a net 3.92 billion rupees, as per provisional data from the NSE.
"Alongside strong corporate earnings, we expect relative sentiment towards Indian equities among foreign investors to improve, driving portfolio flows in the near term," said Saion Mukherjee and Akshay Rajgarhia, analysts at Nomura.
"This is supported by low starting expectations, reflected in valuations below post-pandemic averages across most sectors and by the correction in AI stocks, globally."
Among stocks, Marico MRCO.NS climbed 4.5% after beating its quarterly profit view on lower copra costs and healthy demand.
KRBL KRBL.NS jumped 9.4% after posting a 51% year-on-year rise in the September-quarter profit.
Trident TRIE.NS gained 9.4% after posting a rise in the second-quarter profit.
VRL Logistics VRLL.NS surged 13% after nearly doubling its quarterly profit year-on-year.
KEC International KECL.NS lost 4.2% after posting a sharp decline in the second-quarter profit.
    
    
    

($1 = 94.9000 Indian rupees)

 (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Ronojoy Mazumdar and Jochelle Mendonca)
 ((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; +91 9769003463;))