BENGALURU (Reuters) - Indian shares rose on Friday and headed for weekly gains as IT and energy stocks firmed, while investors awaited a raft of Nifty 50 company earnings and a monthly inflation reading due later in the day.
By 0512 GMT, the blue chip NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.34% to 17,934.50, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.27% at 60,081.76.
The Nifty and Sensex, which fell about 0.7% in the previous session on weak global cues following a surprisingly high U.S. inflation reading, are set to rise marginally for the week.
Asian markets were up on Friday, with investors hoping that the worst price hikes could be soon over.
India’s October retail inflation report is due at 1200 GMT on Friday, with a Reuters poll forecasting it likely hovered near a six-month low, which would give the central bank room to stay pat on interest rates for now.
“If the inflation reading is within the (Reserve Bank of India’s) target range, it could provide some soothing or normalizing effect to the market,” said Narendra Solanki, head of equity research (fundamental) at Anand Rathi Investment Services.
In Mumbai trading, the Nifty IT index gained 0.67%, and was on course to snap two straight sessions of losses, as Tech Mahindra added 2.3% and Wipro rose 1.1%.
The Nifty energy index was up 0.59% and on course to notch its sixth session of gains in seven. Oil and gas explorer ONGC gained 0.9% ahead of its quarterly results report.
Traders are also keeping an eye out for earnings results from Hindalco Industries, Coal India, Grasim Industries and Hero MotoCorp due later in the day.
Reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.
Source: Reuters