Indian shares hit another record high as post-budget rally continues

BENGALURU: Indian shares rose for a sixth straight session and hit record highs on Monday, as a federal budget-inspired rally continued, with banks and automakers leading broad-based gains.

A growth-focused, high-spending federal budget unveiled last week has powered India's stock market to multiple all-time highs.

A COVID-19 vaccination drive that is underway and strong corporate earnings have also aided the upbeat sentiment.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was 1.20% higher at 15,104.45 by 0450 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex climbed 1.27% to 51,377.31. The Nifty 50 had notched a 9% gain last week.

All 14 sectoral indexes were trading higher on Monday. Autos gained the most, rising 2.2%, while banks ICICI and HDFC were the top two boosts to the Nifty 50.

"The optimism from the budget and recent earnings so far is giving a huge boost," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president at SMC Global Securities in New Delhi.

Sectors that powered Indian markets in the mid-2000s - infrastructure, real estate and capital goods - were back in vogue following the federal budget and as the economy returns to normalcy after the shock from the pandemic, Jain added.

Among individual stocks, State Bank of India was set to gain for a sixth straight session following well-received quarterly results. The stock has jumped 46% so far in the last eight sessions.

Punjab National Bank fell 2% after reporting a fall in profit from a quarter earlier.

Shares in NTPC fell as much as 3.4% after a hydropower plant being constructed by the state-run power utility was damaged by an avalanche in northern India. The stock was last down just under 1%.

Meanwhile, other Asian shares also rose amid hopes a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package will be passed by US lawmakers as soon as this month.