Sensex, Nifty rise as financials rebound, investors cheer fresh US-China trade talks

Indian shares rose on Friday with financials and consumer staples leading the gains, while strong broader Asian peers which cheered Washington and Beijing’s decision to hold trade talks next week also boosted investor sentiment.

Most sectors registered gains with defensives such as fast-moving consumer goods and healthcare adding 1.5 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.

ITC Ltd, up 1.8 percent, was the biggest boost on the NSE index, while Astrazeneca Pharma rose 3 percent after the company got permission to market its cancer treatment tablets in India.

Financials recovered after closing lower on Thursday with the NSE banking index rising 1 percent, led by gains in ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra, up 1.5 percent each.

Representational image. Reuters.

“We are seeing some rotational moves today. Initially, the top five or seven contributors were leading the gains and now other large-cap stocks are also participating,” said Rusmik Oza, senior vice-president & head of fundamental research at Kotak Securities in Mumbai.

The BSE index rose 0.8 percent to 37,965.65 while the broader NSE Nifty rose 0.8 percent to 11,478.18.

Shares of cash-strapped Jet Airways rose nearly 3 percent after a report said the company was in talks with a non-banking financial institution to raise up to 20 billion rupees against its forward sales.

The company early on Friday deferred its first-quarter results to August 27.

Shares of Lemon Tree Hotels jumped nearly 2 percent after the company signed a deal for a 90-room hotel in Andhra Pradesh, which will be operational by 2020.

Meanwhile, minutes of the central bank’s latest monetary policy meeting released Thursday after market hours showed the policy panel cited possible risks of inflation in the second half of the year as one of the key drivers for raising interest rates in August.

The currency and debt markets are closed on Friday for a local holiday and trading would resume on Monday.