By Bharath Rajeswaran
(Reuters) – Indian shares rose on Friday after falling sharply in the previous quarter, led by gains in heavyweight Reliance Industries and drugmakers, while investors also awaited economic growth data due later in the day.
The NSE Nifty 50 rose 0.72% to 24,092.9 points by 10:32 am IST, while the BSE Sensex gained 0.74% to 79,637.21.
The large cap and midcap indexes rose 0.6% and 0.3%.
All the benchmarks fell about 1.5% each in the previous quarter amid concerns over US interest rates and as investors adjusted their positions as the month ended.
Reliance Industries, the second-weighted stock in the Nifty 50 index, rose as much as 1% after shedding 1.7% on Thursday. Trust stocks have slipped around 13% in the past two months.
All 10 Adani Group stocks traded higher, with Adani Green gaining 13% and Adani Energy adding 11%, paring some of the losses caused by US charges against senior officials last week. The Adani Group has denied this charge.
Drugmaker Divi’s Lab gained 2.5% after Citi reiterated its “buy” rating, calling it the top choice in Indian pharmaceuticals. Divi’s was among the biggest gainers in drugstores, up 2%.
Cipla rose 2% as Prabhudas Lilladher upgraded it to “buy” from “accumulate”, citing positive earnings.
After the recent correction in Indian prices, the current market offers opportunities for stock selection as mutual funds are available, said Ashish Ranawade, head of products at Emkay Wealth Management.
The benchmarks slipped briefly into correction territory earlier this month and are down about 8.5% and 7.6% from their highs—which occurred on Sept. 27.
Also in looking at the gross domestic product of India data, due after closing, and economists estimate that the economy grew 6.5% in July-September – the slowest pace in years-and-a-half – due to the decline in demand.
Mahindra and Mahindra rose 2% after rejecting a report that it could face penalties of up to 73 billion dollars ($863.94 million).
($1 = 84.4970 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy, Savio D’Souza and Janane Venkatraman)