Indian shares hit record highs, set to post third straight monthly gain – Markets

BENGALURU: Indian shares hit a fresh peak on Friday, tracking gains in regional peers, after US economic data eased growth concerns, while investors await domestic quarterly growth data.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.27% at 25,218.85 as of 10:15 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex added 0.23% to 82,329.79, with both the benchmarks hitting all-time highs.

The Nifty has risen for the previous 11 consecutive sessions, marking its longest winning streak in about 17 years. Both the benchmarks have gained about 1% in August and are on course to log gains for the third straight month, adding about 12% over the period.

“We expect the uptick in markets to continue further, helped by surplus liquidity and a positive medium-term growth outlook,” said Siddhartha Khemka, head of research of wealth management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Asian markets rose, with the MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up 0.7%, on the back of robust US economic data.

Market participants now await US core personal consumption expenditures data, the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation, on Friday to confirm bets of the September rate cut. All 13 major sectors logged gains. The broader, more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps rose about 0.4% each.

Two-wheeler makers Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor rose 2.4% and 1%, respectively, after several brokerages termed them key beneficiaries due to rural demand recovery and expected them to post volume growth in August.

SpiceJet fell about 4.6% after India’s aviation watchdog placed the budget airline under enhanced surveillance.

Reliance boosts Indian shares to record, Nifty logs longest gaining streak in 17 years

Sugar stocks – Balrampur Chini Mills, Shree Renuka, Bajaj Hindusthan and Dwarikesh Sugar – rose 6%-11% after the government said sugar mills could use cane juice or syrup to produce ethanol from November. Investors now await India’s April-June growth data, due after market hours.

A Reuters poll showed growth likely slowed to 6.9% year-on-year in the quarter due to reduced government spending because of national elections.