By Bharath Rajeswaran
(Reuters) -India’s benchmark equity indexes posted a weekly rise as investors cheered a truce with Pakistan, trade talks with the United States and expectations of domestic interest rate cuts.
The Nifty 50 rose 4.21% to 25,019.80 for the week and the BSE Sensex gained 3.62% to 82,330.59. On the day, the indexes fell about 0.2% each, dragged by a pullback in IT stocks.
“The announcement of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan eased worries of escalation of military tensions and triggered risk-on sentiment, while the U.S-China trade truce, progress in India-U.S. trade negotiations and cooling domestic inflation sustained the weekly gains,” said Aishvarya Dadheech, chief investment officer of Fident Asset Management.
With foreign inflows likely to sustain, the outlook for Indian markets remains positive, said Dadheech.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that India has offered a trade deal with zero tariffs, driving markets higher. India’s trade secretary said that trade talks with the U.S. are progressing well. Trade minister Piyush Goyal will lead an Indian delegation to advance negotiations.
India’s more domestically-focussed small-caps and mid-caps advanced 9.2% and 7.2% this week, led by defence stocks and post-results rallies in key constituents.
“The sharp resurgence in broader markets is a sign of things changing for good,” Fident Asset’s Dadheech said.
All 13 major sectors advanced from a week earlier.
The IT index rose 5.8%, helped by easing recession worries in the world’s largest economy. Metal shares jumped 9.3% to log their best week in four years, aided by weakness in the dollar.
Interest rate-sensitive heavyweight financials and realty shares climbed 3.8% and 10.8% after data showed retail inflation fell to a near six-year low.
India’s no. 2 telecom operator Bharti Airtel declined 2.9% on the day after a $1 billion stake sale by large shareholder Singapore Telecommunications.
($1 = 85.4050 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
