Reliance Industries lifts Sensex, Nifty ahead of inflation data, earnings

Indian stocks rose on Wednesday, led by heavyweight Reliance Industries, ahead of domestic and US inflation data for June and the quarterly results season.

The Nifty 50 rose 0.10% to 19458.90 while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.10% to 65685.54 as of 9:53AM IST.

Ten of the 13 major sectoral indices posted gains, with FMCG gaining 0.4% and oil and gas gaining almost 1%.

The Information Technology (IT) index fell 0.5% ahead of quarterly earnings from Tata Consultancy Services and HCLTech, which are due for release after market hours on Wednesday.

“The upside in the markets is limited from now on due to the ongoing rally,” said Samrat Dasgupta, CEO at Esquire Capital Investment Advisors. “It would be good if the market holds up for a while, especially on concerns that inflation could pick up again due to the erratic monsoons and higher food prices.”

Investors await the India inflation read, which is due later today. A Reuters poll of economists showed that retail inflation likely snapped a four-month decline in June due to higher food prices.

Among individual stocks, online gaming stocks Delta Corp, Nazara Technologies and Onmobile Global fell between 4% and 10%, after the GST council imposed a 28% tax on online gaming companies’ sales.

Reliance Industries, India’s largest company by market capitalization, gained more than 1% and led the index’s gains after brokerage Morgan Stanley reiterated its “overweight” on the stock, citing the possibility of seeing multiple catalysts for growth.

Just Dial jumped more than 7% after UBS reiterated its “buy” and raised earnings estimates on potential margin expansion.

Asian markets rose more than 0.5%, reversing gains on Wall Street, ahead of US inflation data.

US consumer prices are expected to rise 3.1% in June, likely the lowest since March 2021, easing concerns about interest rates.