BENGALURU: Indian shares opened higher on Friday, aided by a rise in financials and optimism that the rate hike cycle may be near its end after global central banks hinted at inflation easing, while the ongoing rout in Adani group stock capped gains.

The Nifty 50 index rose 0.25% to 17,655, while the S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.47% to 60,208.89, as of 09:52 a.m. IST.

High weightage financials rose over 1% ahead of earnings of the country’s largest lender State Bank of India and after clarification from life insurers SBI Life and HDFC Life, addressing investor concerns regarding the latest budget proposals.

Thirty-one of the Nifty 50 stocks rose with Titan , IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, SBI Life and SBI among the top gainers. Adani stocks declined, extending the ongoing selloff in the conglomerate’s stocks which has caused a rout of over $100 billion in market capitalisation after the Hindenburg report on Jan. 24, keeping a check on the upbeat mood.

The National Stock Exchange has put Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Ambuja Cements under an additional surveillance measure (ASM) framework after the recent selloff.

The rise in domestic equities is also spurred by dovish comments from global centrals banks.

Indian shares struggle as Adani rout deepens

After the US Federal Reserve acknowledged in its monetary policy meeting on Wednesday that the disinflationary process may have begun, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) followed suit a day later.

The Fed hiked the key interest rate by 25 basis points, while the ECB and BoE raised it by 50 bps each and signalled that the tide was turning against inflation.

The Reserve Bank of India is expected to raise the key policy repo rate by 25 bps at its policy meeting on Feb. 8, beginning the end of almost a year-long tightening cycle.