IGI Logo

Indian shares rose on Friday and were set for a third straight weekly jump, led by private lenders amid ebbing growth and inflation concerns, while investor focus turned to IT major Tata Consultancy Services' earnings report due later in the day.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.44% at 16,203.75, as of 0507 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.48% to 54,440.15. Both indexes are set for a third consecutive weekly gains, rising over 2.5% each.

"The market was in oversold territory and we have positive news of a decisive downturn in commodity and crude prices, so that has helped the market bounce amid easing foreign investor selling," said Gaurav Dua, head, capital market strategy at Sharekhan.

Foreign investors sold a net $373.31 million worth of Indian equities up to Thursday - the smallest outflow in five weeks - compared with net $556.13 million in the same period last week.

"The downtrend in commodities is too large to be seen as a short-term move. The Nifty should sustain and consolidate around the 16,000 level in the immediate term," Dua added.

Easing inflation worries was a 6.25% drop in Brent crude this week up to Thursday's close, while copper, a bellwether for economic output, shed 2.8% amid demand worries.

Asian peers edged higher following overnight Wall Street gains, as fears of an economic slowdown cooled after positive signals from U.S. central bank officials. [MKTS/GLOB]

In Mumbai, Axis Bank and larger peer ICICI Bank gained 2.4% and 1.6%, respectively, to one-month highs.

Mahindra and Mahindra rose as much as 5.4% to a record high before paring some gains. The automaker said late Thursday the company and British International Investment would each invest up to $250 million in a new EV unit.

TCS, which will kickstart the earnings season later in the day, was trading flat.