INDIA STOCKS-IT, financials lead Indian shares higher; hot US inflation caps gains

By Bharath Rajeswaran

Oct 15 (Reuters) - Indian benchmark shares rose on Thursday due to upbeat sentiment from the ongoing quarterly earnings season, led by IT, financials and Reliance Industries, while hot US inflation data raised bets of another Federal Reserve rate hike this year and capped gains.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI climbed 1.15% to 22,881.90, while the BSE Sensex .BSESN gained 1.21% to 73,656.40 as of 10:12 a.m. IST.

Twelve of the 16 major sectors logged gains. The broader small-caps .NIFSMCP100 fell 0.6% and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 rose 0.3%.

IT index .NIFTYIT gained 2.4%, taking the index's three-session rise to about 8.3%. Infosys INFY.NS, TCS TCS.NS and HCLTech HCLT.NS added 3% each.

"The strength in the IT stocks following the results of HCLTech and the optimism surrounding that will hold the IT index strong," said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments.

Tech Mahindra TEML.NS and Wipro WIPR.NS added 3.5% and 1.7%, respectively, ahead of their quarterly results due later in the day.

Other Asian markets fell, dragged by AI-linked stocks, as quicker-than-expected US inflation reinforced concerns over tighter global monetary conditions, eroding the appeal of high-growth companies whose valuations are sensitive to interest-rate assumptions. MKTS/GLOB

From the Indian market perspective, the correction in AI stocks is a positive, as that could potentially reverse the ongoing, persistent, record foreign outflows, Vijayakumar said.

High-weight financials .NIFTYFIN and private banks .NIFPVTBNK gained 1% and 1.4%, respectively. The two heaviest stocks in the benchmark indexes, HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS rose 1.2% and 2%.

Reliance Industries RELI.NS climbed 2.1%.

Enviro Infra ENVI.NS rose 4.9% after securing an order worth 2.28 billion rupees ($24.01 million).

ICICI Lombard ICIL.NS added 1% after a rise in the September quarter profit.

IDBI Bank IDBI.NS fell 6.1%, a day after the government approved the sale of a controlling stake in the lender to Fairfax Financial Holdings FFH.TO in a $5.56 billion deal.

Tyre maker CEAT CEAT.NS fell 3.5% after posting a decline in the September quarter profit.

($1 = 94.9625 Indian rupees)