Indian shares gain as COVID-19 cases fall, tech stocks jump

Suven Life Sciences

17/08/2021 06:38

By Vishwadha Chander
    BENGALURU, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Indian shares inched higher on
Tuesday, as gains in technology stocks and falling domestic
cases of COVID-19 helped investors look past losses in banks as
well as concerns around global economic growth.
    By 0518 GMT, the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index  .NSEI  was up
0.10% at 16,579.85, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex  .BSESN 
rose 0.12% to 55,647.82.
    The Nifty IT index  .NIFTYIT  climbed 1.16%, led by Tech
Mahindra's  TEML.NS  3.41% jump, as the sector continued to be
buoyed by positive earnings announcements and its lower exposure
to the effects of COVID-19.
    "First, the IT sector has not been impacted at all by
COVID-19, and the entire work-from-home alignment for this
sector happened early," Anita Gandhi, director at Arihant
Capital Markets in Mumbai, said adding that it was the IT sector
that aided in functioning of the economy.
    Aiding sentiment, new cases of the novel coronavirus were
reported at 25,166 on Tuesday, marking a sharp drop from their
peaks of more than 400,000 cases a day during the second wave of
the pandemic a few months ago.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2PN143
    "The domestic COVID-19 situation is quite unlike the global
one, with Indian states continuing to unlock. Markets are taking
comfort from this, and it's continuing to boost sentiment," said
Ajit Mishra, VP, research at Religare Broking, Noida.
    Meanwhile, analysts said they were closely watching the
Nifty Bank index  .NSEBANK , which fell 0.74% to be an
underperformer to the broader Nifty index.
    Auto parts maker Fiem Industries  FIIN.NS  rose as much as
20%, its biggest gain in more than a decade after saying that it
added Ola Electric as a customer.
    Among global markets, Asian shares declined over Delta
variant concerns and the turmoil in Afghanistan, while Wall
Street rebounded overnight, with the benchmark S&P 500 and the
Dow industrials hitting record highs.  MKTS/GLOB 
    

 (Reporting by Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru; editing by
Uttaresh.V)
 ((Vishwadha.Chander@thomsonreuters.com; Mobile: +91 7506036802;
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vishwadha;))