Indian shares hit 7-week high on Russia-Ukraine talks optimism

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30/03/2022 11:46

(Updates shares, closing levels)
    BENGALURU, March 30 (Reuters) - Indian shares scaled a near
seven-week high on Wednesday, boosted by automakers and
heavyweight financials, with appetite for riskier assets
rebounding globally on signs of progress in Ukraine-Russia peace
talks.
    The NSE Nifty 50 index  .NSEI  climbed 1% to 17,498.25,
while the S&P BSE Sensex  .BSESN  rose 1.3% to 58,683.99,
extending a rally to a third straight session.
    Global equity markets largely reacted positively to Russia's
promises on Tuesday to scale down its military operations near
Kyiv and surrounding cities.  MKTS/GLOB 
    "Some recovery is visible in the market from the oversold
zone, led by key drivers like peace talks between
Russia-Ukraine," said Neeraj Chadawar, head - quantitative
equity research, Axis Securities.
    India's main indexes have more than recovered their losses
triggered by a spike in oil prices following Russia's invasion
of Ukraine. In contrast, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific
shares outside Japan  .MIAPJ0000PUS  is still nearly 4% below
levels seen before the invasion.
    "In the near term, market performance is likely to be
range-bound as the clear trend is likely to emerge only after
the volatility sustains at current levels for a longer time,"
Chadawar said.  
    In Mumbai, the Nifty Auto index  .NIFTYAUTO  gained 1.2%,
while the Nifty bank index  .NSEBANK  rose 1.4% and Nifty
finance index  .NIFTYFIN  advanced 2%.  
    Tata Consumer Products  TACN.NS  rose 3.1% after saying it
would merge Tata Coffee  TACO.NS  with itself. Tata Coffee
shares surged 9.3% to a two-month high.
    Oil and Natural Gas Corp  ONGC.NS  slid 5.3% to a two-week
low after the oil producer said India would sell a stake of up
to 1.5% in the company.
    Citigroup Inc  C.N  said, after Indian markets closed, that
it would sell its Indian consumer banking businesses to private
lender Axis Bank  AXBK.NS  for $1.6 billion.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2VX6H0

 (Reporting by Chris Thomas and Nallur Sethuraman, additional
reporting by Gaurav Dogra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj
Kalluvila)
 ((chris.thomas@thomsonreuters.com; +91-80-6749-8695;))