Markets climb in early trade on continuous foreign fund inflows

Equity benchmark indices began the trade on a firm note on May 15, extending their previous day’s rally, amid continuous foreign fund inflows.

Equity benchmark indices began the trade on a firm note on May 15, extending their previous day's rally, amid continuous foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 188.57 points to 62,216.47. The NSE Nifty gained 48.9 points to 18,363.70.

Among the Sensex firms, Tata Motors jumped over 3% after announcing its Q4 earnings. Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel, Infosys and Nestle were the other biggest gainers.

Fuelled by rising domestic demand, pricing actions and easing supply chain issues, Tata Motors reported a consolidated net profit of ₹5,408 crore for the March quarter and aims to improve the profit margins this fiscal despite headwinds. Maruti, IndusInd Bank, NTPC and Tata Steel were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Friday as they bought equities worth ₹1,014.06 crore, according to exchange data.

Foreign investors have shown strong buying interest in Indian equities in May and invested more than ₹23,152 crore in the first fortnight. In Asia, Tokyo and Hong Kong markets were trading in the green, while Seoul and Shanghai quoted lower. The U.S. market ended marginally lower on Friday.

"Even though the Congress victory in the Karnataka elections was much better-than-expected, it is unlikely to have a negative impact on markets, which in the near-term is driven mainly by FPI inflows backed by improving fundamentals," said V. K. Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.