Indian shares advance on trade deal hopes

Indian shares rose on Wednesday, supported by progress in trade talks with Washington and expectations that the U.S. government shutdown may soon end.

Market sentiment was also boosted as exit polls for elections in the north Indian state of Bihar predicted a victory for India’s ruling alliance, analysts said.

The Nifty 50 rose 0.63% to 25,857.50, while the BSE Sensex added 0.67% to 84,443.74 as of 10:05 a.m. IST, after rising about 0.5% in the previous session.

Of the 16 major sectors, 15 advanced.

The broader small-caps and mid-caps rose about 0.6% each.

Information technology companies, which earn a significant share of their revenue from the U.S, advanced 1.5%, after gaining 2.8% over the previous two sessions.

“Optimism over a potential India-U.S. trade agreement has boosted market sentiment, which is further supported by expectations of an end to the U.S. government shutdown and a likely US rate cut in December,” said Gaurav Garg, research analyst at Lemonn Markets Desk.

Among individual stocks, auto components maker Belrise Industries climbed 3% after posting an 82% rise in quarterly profit.

Stock exchange operator BSE jumped 5.5% after reporting a 61% rise in profit in the September quarter, aided by pick-up in index derivative volumes.

Broker Groww’s parent Billionbrains Garage Ventures listed at a premium of 12% in its trading debut after its $754 million IPO was subscribed 17.6 times last week.

Engineering firm Thermax slid 4% after logging a 39% drop in quarterly profit as an extended monsoon slowed the execution of backlog orders.

Meanwhile, investors awaited India’s consumer inflation data later in the day.

According to the median forecast in a Reuters poll of economists, retail inflation is estimated to have plunged to at least a 10-year low in October on sustained drop in food prices.