By Bharath Rajeswaran and Indranil Sarkar
(Reuters) -Indian shares inched higher on Monday, led by gains in Kotak Mahindra Bank and Wipro after their better-than-expected quarterly earnings, while concerns over the U.S. policy framework under President-elect Donald Trump capped gains.
The Nifty 50 rose 0.15% to 23,233 points as of 10:16 a.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex rose 0.22% to 76,789.21. They eased from gains of about 0.5% at the open.
The broader, more domestically focussed smallcaps and midcaps shed about 0.25% each.
Seven of the 13 major sectors logged gains.
The private bank index rose 1.6%. Kotak Mahindra Bank jumped 9.4% after reporting a 10% rise in quarterly profit, helped by higher lending income.
Wipro surged 7.4% after beating third-quarter estimates for revenue and profit and signaling a revival in demand.
Kotak and Wipro were the top gainers on the Nifty 50.
However, worries and uncertainty about the U.S. policy framework under President-elect Trump were keeping investors nervous, said Aishwarya Dadheech, chief investment officer of Fident Asset Management.
“It’s likely that caution will prevail until there is clarity on Trump’s policies and their likely impact on the dollar, U.S. Treasury yields, U.S. inflation and consequently, foreign flows into emerging markets like India.”
That, along with prospects of fewer rate cuts in the world’s largest economy, has led to foreign portfolio investors (FPI) offloading Indian stocks and bonds worth about $6.4 billion so far in January.
Among individual stocks, agrochemical firm Rallis India lost 7.6% after reporting a lower quarterly profit, while Wastewater treatment solutions provider Concord Enviro Systems climbed 9% after reporting a higher profit.
Minerals provider Ashapura Minechem jumped 6% after the company’s overseas arm signed a deal with China Railway.
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Indranil Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Savio D’Souza)
