Indian shares extend winning streak ahead of earnings, macro data

By Bharath Rajeswaran

BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares rose on Wednesday as March-quarter corporate earnings trickled in, while caution ahead of key domestic and global macroeconomic data capped gains.

The Nifty 50 closed 0.51% higher at 17,812.40, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.39% to 60,392.77. The Nifty 50 extended gains for the eighth session in a row, its longest winning streak in more than four months.

Ten of the 13 major sectoral indexes advanced, with high weightage financials rising 0.6%.

Information technology (IT) stocks rose over 1% ahead of top IT firm Tata Consultancy Services Ltd's quarterly results.

Analysts expect TCS to report double-digit growth in net profit and revenue. But the outlook for fiscal 2024 will be keenly watched, given the fears of a global growth slowdown and lingering concerns about the banking sector.

"Expect equity markets to stay muted in the near-term despite the surprise pause by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and market valuations becoming more reasonable," analysts at Kotak Institutional Equities wrote in a note.

"Growth prospects remain weak, inflation faces upside risks and risks of earnings downgrades exist," they added.

Investors also await consumer inflation and industrial production data, due to be released after market hours on Wednesday.

India's consumer inflation likely eased in March to 5.80%, dipping below the RBI's upper tolerance limit for the first time in 2023.

The U.S. consumer price index data for March and minutes of the Fed's latest policy meeting, also due on Wednesday, could dictate the direction of global markets in the near term, said two analysts.

Among individual stocks, Sula Vineyards jumped over 9% after posting a 15% year-on-year growth in own-brand sales.

Lupin rose nearly 3% after launching a regional reference laboratory in Bengaluru as part of its diagnostics network expansion. The pharma index closed 2.23% higher, buoyed by strong export data in March.

($1 = 82.0400 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, and Janane Venkatraman)