Indian Shares Rise As Finance, Autos Gain; Cenbanks In Focus

Indian shares ended higher on Monday, lifted by gains in financials and auto companies, while investors prepared for a host of central bank meetings this week to gauge the impact of rate hikes on global economy.

The NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.5% to 17,622.25 and the S&P BSE Sensex ended up 0.5% at 59,141.23. Both the indexes lost over 1.5% last week.

Investors braced for a week littered with 13 central bank meetings that are certain to see borrowing costs rise across the globe, with some risk of a super-sized increase in the United States. [MKTS/GLOB]

"The entire market is focusing on U.S. Federal Reserve statement this week even though it has already discounted a 75 basis points rate hike," said Prashanth Tapse, research analyst, Mehta Equities.

Markets will be looking at the Fed's guidance for November, when another 75 basis points hike is expected, Tapse said.

Despite the Indian markets losing nearly 2% last week, foreign investors purchased a net $819 million worth of domestic equities, although they disposed of a net $258 million in the last two trading sessions, according to Refinitiv Eikon.

Data showed that tally for the month as of Friday close stood at $1.52 billion in net inflows.

Public sector bank index rose 2%, while auto stocks gained 0.93% and Nifty finance index 0.7%.

Among individual stocks, Ambuja Cement jumped 9% after Adani Group completed its acquisition of the company, reconstituted board and proposed to pump extra funds.  

Shares of Mahindra and Mahindra rose 3.1% and was the top gainer on Nifty 50 index after Canadian pension fund Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan agreed to buy a 30% stake for 23.71 billion Indian rupees ($297.5 million) in the local automaker's renewable power assets.