Indian shares gain on tech, financials boost; Reliance in focus

Speciality Restaurants

24/06/2021 05:06

BENGALURU, June 24 (Reuters) - Indian shares edged higher on
Thursday, helped by gains in heavyweight information technology
and financial stocks, while shares of Reliance Industries
 RELI.NS  were slightly lower ahead of its annual general
meeting later in the day.
    The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index  .NSEI  rose 0.22% to
15,721.50 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex  .BSESN  climbed
0.27% to 52,449.44 by 0355 GMT.
    Declining COVID-19 cases, easing of pandemic-led curbs in
states, and a recent record surge in daily vaccinations have
driven both indexes to record highs this month. But, they have
retreated in the last two sessions as investors locked in gains
ahead of Thursday's expiry of monthly contracts for June.
    In Mumbai trading, the Nifty IT index  .NIFTYIT  gained
0.77% and the Nifty Bank Index  .NSEBANK  added 0.40%. Both the
sectoral indexes were down in at least three of the past four
sessions.
    Conglomerate Reliance Industries slipped 0.1% ahead of its
keenly-watched annual general meeting scheduled at 0830 GMT.
    Speciality Restaurants  SPRE.NS , the owner of well-known
domestic brands such as Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta, gained
8.2% after reporting a March-quarter profit versus a loss a year
ago.
    Among global markets, Wall Street's Nasdaq index closed at a
record high overnight, while Asian shares were mixed, as
investors reassessed the U.S. central bank's statements on
inflation and rate hikes.  MKTS/GLOB      

 (Reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; editing by
Uttaresh.V)
 ((AnuronKumar.Mitra@thomsonreuters.com; +91 99863 58469;))