BENGALURU: Indian shares rose on Wednesday led by heavyweight Reliance Industries after Goldman Sachs set a Street-high price target, while a rally in realty stocks on rising housing sales also aided sentiment.
The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index settled 0.54% higher at 22,123.65, while the BSE Sensex rose 0.73% to 72,996.31.
Seven of the 13 major sectors logged gains. Energy and oil & gas rose 0.68% and 0.54%, respectively, led by a 3.56% jump in Reliance Industries.
Goldman Sachs raised the price target on Reliance to 3,400 rupees, citing favourable valuations and a potential earnings boost with capital expenditure peaking.
Heavyweights such as Reliance and HDFC Bank, which are relatively attractively valued, are likely to provide support to benchmarks, while parts of the broader market could see further correction as valuations continue to remain elevated, Amit Kumar Gupta, founder of Fintrekk Capital, said.
The benchmark Nifty will continue to hover around 22,000 levels in the near-term, ahead of the earnings season starting from mid-April, Gupta added.
Heavyweights drag Indian shares as consolidation continues
The broader, more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps gained 0.96% and 0.06%, respectively, on the day.
But they have dropped 4.46% and 1.03%, respectively, so far in March, while the Nifty has risen 0.64%.
Realty stocks advanced 0.85%, extending gains for the fifth session, after data from property consultancy firm ANAROCK showed India’s housing sales jumped 14% in the January-March quarter.
Bajaj Auto also gained 2.16% after India’s stock exchanges listed the two-wheeler maker’s shares among 25 stocks available for optional same-day trade settlement, starting March 28.
Maruti Suzuki added 2.12% in the session to hit an all-time high. The carmaker’s stock gained 7.50% last week for a record high, but dropped 0.71% on Tuesday following the recall of two car models.
Maruti and Bajaj Auto led the auto index 0.51% higher.
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