BENGALURU (Reuters) – Indian shares climbed to their highest since mid-March on Thursday as investors looked past surging coronavirus cases at home and focused on earnings reports from blue-chip companies.
The NSE Nifty 50 index rose 1.12% to 15,031.1 by 0354 GMT, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was up 1.19% at 50,324.55.
Reliance Industries, India’s largest company by market value, rose as much as 2.4% to a three-week high, boosting the benchmark indexes.
The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Saudi Aramco has held talks with Reliance about a cash-and-share deal for a stake in its refining and petrochemicals arm.
Benchmark Nifty 50 components Bajaj Auto, Hindustan Unilever, and Titan Company are slated to report results later in the day.
Asian shares were also higher after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it was too early to consider rolling back emergency support for the economy, and as U.S. President Joe Biden unveiled plans for a stimulus package.
Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V
