Staff of Reuters Read for 2 minutes Reuters, BENGALURU, July 13 – Indian markets climbed on Tuesday, powered by advances in banking and auto sectors, as the central bank is poised to hold policy rates unchanged to sustain the COVID-19-ravaged economy, despite a lower-than-forecast rise in June retail inflation. The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex were up 0.43 percent and 0.42 percent, respectively, as of 0357 GMT, at 15,760.35 and 52,591.06 points. HDFC Ltd gained 1.5 percent while ICICI Bank gained 1.8 percent. The banks were among the top contributors to the Nifty Bank index’s 0.8 percent gain. The Nifty Auto index was up 0.65%, boosted by increases in Tata Motors, the parent company of Jaguar Land Rover, which was up 0.8 percent. Investors weighed the effects of the Delta version of the COVID-19 coronavirus on economic development as international stocks hit new highs on Monday, helping to boost optimism. Shares of pharmaceutical F D C Ltd rose 3.3 percent in Mumbai trade after the company announced the launch of an oral suspension formulation of COVID-19 therapy favipiravir, while Sunteck Realty’s stock rose 6.4 percent after the company reported an increase in first-quarter pre-sales bookings. In June, retail inflation in India was lower than predicted, bolstering the case for the central bank to maintain current policy rates to support an economy hit hard by COVID-19. The June inflation reading was over the central bank’s goal range of 2% to 6%, according to economists, although price pressures appeared to be diminishing. (Bengaluru-based reporter Shivani Singh contributed to this report; Vinay Dwivedi edited it.)/n
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