Reliance Industries lifts Indian shares ahead of inflation data, earnings

BENGALURU, July 12 (Reuters) - Indian shares rose on Wednesday, led by heavyweight Reliance Industries, ahead of domestic and U.S. inflation data for June and the quarterly results season.

The Nifty 50 (.NSEI) index was up 0.10% at 19,458.90, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) rose 0.10% to 65,685.54, as of 9:53 a.m. IST.

Ten of the 13 major sectoral indexes logged gains, with fast moving consumer goods (.NIFTYFMCG) rising 0.4% and oil and gas (.NIFOILGAS) gaining nearly 1%.

The information technology (IT) index (.NIFTYIT) fell 0.5% ahead of quarterly earnings from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS.NS) and HCLTech (HCLT.NS), due after market hours on Wednesday.

“The upside in markets is limited from here on because of the continous rally” said Samrat Dasgupta, chief executive officer at Esquire Capital Investment Advisors. “It will be good if the market consolidates for some time, especially on concerns that inflation may rise again due to uneven monsoon and rise in food prices.”

Investors await Indias inflation print, due later in the day. Retail inflation likely snapped a four-month decline in June due to rising food prices, a Reuters poll of economists showed.

Among individual stocks, online gaming stocks Delta Corp (DELT.NS), Nazara Technologies (NAZA.NS) and Onmobile Global (ONMO.NS) tumbled between 4% and 10%, after the government imposed a 28% tax on the turnover of online gaming companies.

Indias top firm by market capitalisation Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) gained over 1% and led the index gains after brokerage Morgan Stanley reiterated \“overweight\” on the stock, citing visibility of multiple catalysts for growth.

Just Dial jumped over 7% after UBS reiterated “buy” and raised earnings estimates on likely margin expansion.

Asian markets (.MIAPJ0000PUS) rose over 0.5%, mirroring gains in Wall Street, ahead of the U.S. inflation data.

The U.S. consumer price index is expected to have risen by 3.1% in June, likely to be the lowest since March 2021, easing rate concerns.