BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indian shares advanced more than 1% on Thursday to hover near record highs, boosted by metal and banking stocks, as investors took a slightly hawkish tilt by the U.S. Federal Reserve in their stride.
The Fed said last night it will likely begin tapering its monthly bond buying as early as November, and indicated it could raise interest rates more quickly than expected.
Investors seem to be taking cues from a global uptick while awaiting further details about the “quantum and timing” of the Federal Reserve’s tapering action before reacting, said Siddharth Purohit, a research analyst at SMC Global Securities.
Metal stocks advanced 1.5%, with Coal India topping the Nifty 50 index.
Banks recouped the previous session’s losses to advance 1.9%, with Axis Bank rising about 2.6%.
Real estate stocks jumped as much as 6.5% to their highest in nearly 11 years, with Godrej Properties surging 6.8% to hit a record high.
The positive sentiment from signs of an increase in property sales is also spilling over to auxiliary sectors, SMC’s Purohit said, adding private banks with exposure to property mortgage also stood to benefit.
The sub-index for infrastructure stocks climbed 1%, with DLF Ltd rising more than 5% to lead gains in the sector.
Broader Asian stock markets advanced, supported by positive news from debt-laden China Evergrande Group, though default risks still remained for the property giant. [MKTS/GLOB]
Reporting by Soumyajit Saha in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu
Source: Reuters