Indian shares track global gains on Fed rate view; Reliance shines

BENGALURU: Indian shares rose on Wednesday as global risk appetite was boosted by the US Federal Reserve's promise of cheap money, with index heavyweight Reliance Industries and private sector lenders leading the pack.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.77% at 14,820.45 by 0450 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.63% to 50,061.21.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.3% after the Fed said the US central bank intended to keep monetary policy loose for a long time.

"The global liquidity backdrop continues to be positive since the Fed has reaffirmed its accommodative monetary stance," said V.K. Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

In Mumbai, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank were top boosts to the Nifty, rising more than 1% each.

The Nifty private bank index climbed as much as 1.4% and was set to snap a six-session losing streak, while the PSU bank index jumped 3.5% after seeing heavy sell-offs in the last three sessions.

Indian equities rose sharply in the first two weeks of February thanks to solid corporate earnings and a well-received federal budget, before trimming some of the gains due to profit-taking.

On Tuesday, benchmark stock indexes snapped five sessions of losses as a rise in commodity prices supported gains in energy and metal stocks.

Shares of Coal India rose 5.4% on Wednesday and were the top percentage gainers on the Nifty.

Among the 14 major sub-indexes on the Nifty, IT and FMCG were in negative territory, falling 1.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

IT giant Tata Consultancy Services was the top drag on the Nifty, shedding nearly 2%.

UPL fell 3.6% after the agrochemical maker said on Tuesday a fire at its plant in the western state of Gujarat killed two and injured 26.