BENGALURU: Indian shares were higher in early trades on Thursday as investors waited with optimism for data on domestic and US inflation that could provide cues on the central banks’ rate hike path.
The Nifty 50 index was up 0.22% to 17,934.50 as of 9:19 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 0.23% at 60,243.29. India’s retail inflation likely held steady last month, staying within the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) comfort range of 2%-6% for a second month, a Reuters poll of economists found.
The data is due later in the day at 5:30 p.m. IST.
The US consumer prices index (CPI) report, also due on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. IST, is expected to show some moderation in December’s year-on-year prices.
However, remarks from Fed officials earlier this week have pointed to the central bank’s need to remain aggressive on rate hikes.
Last month, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das had said the Indian central bank would continue its fight against inflation despite the worst being “behind us”.
In domestic trading, top IT firms Infosys Ltd and HCL Technologies Ltd were up 0.7% and 1.5%, respectively, ahead of their quarterly earnings results. IT stocks overall rose 0.72%.