Indian stocks rise with global peers amid bets that stimulus will continue

By Abhishek Vishnoi

Indian stocks advanced to their highest in nearly four months, tracking gains in global equities amid bets policy makers will continue to take supportive measures to contain the economic fallout from the pandemic.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 1.5% to 38,492.95 in Mumbai, its highest close since March 3. The NSE Nifty 50 Index climbed by the same magnitude. Asian stocks were mostly higher Tuesday on expectations the Federal Reserve will reinforce its dovish message in its policy meeting this week and as US stimulus talks got underway.

India’s main equity indexes are up about 48% from their March lows even as the nation has become the third most-infected country in the world. The rebound has some technical indicators signaling that the rally is overdone.

“It is prudential to trim speculative long trades and to follow strict risk management measures,” Arun Kumar, a strategist at Reliance Securities Ltd., wrote in a note. The market is displaying “signs of losing momentum.”

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world’s second-most populous nation stands at 1.44 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. A total of 32,771 people have died, while 917,568 have recovered.

Twelve of 20 Nifty 50 companies that have reported June-quarter results so far have either beaten or met analyst estimates for profits, while two results were not comparable, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The rupee and the yield on the 10-year benchmark government bond was little changed.