Indian shares rise as earnings, private banks offset Mideast worries
I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Indian shares rose on Friday, driven by private banks and strong company earnings, which helped mitigate concerns over Brent crude prices near $105 amid U.S.-Iran tensions.
By Bharath Rajeswaran and Vivek Kumar M
May 22 (Reuters) - Indian shares rose on Friday, led by private banks and supported by resilient company earnings, offsetting worries over Brent crude trading near $105 a barrel amid uncertainty around U.S.-Iran peace talks.
The two sides stuck to opposing stances on Thursday over Tehran's uranium stockpile and controls on the Strait of Hormuz, although U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there had been "some good signs" in talks.
The benchmark Nifty 50 rose 0.6% to 23,796.7 and the BSE Sensex gained 0.7% to 75,710.03, as of 10:15 a.m. IST.
Ten of the 16 major sectors advanced. The broader small-caps and mid-caps traded flat.
The top two benchmark stocks by weightage, private lenders HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank rose 2% each, lifting financials 1.3% higher.
"Macro noise is repeatedly interrupting resilient micro fundamentals in terms of earnings, suggesting that there is no free run in markets and bringing some much-needed realism," said Anuj Jain, co-founder of Green Portfolio PMS.
"While earnings have been resilient so far, markets still need several variables to fall into place to break out of the current consolidation phase: crude prices must stay benign, inflation has to remain under control, and geopolitical risks must not flare up," he added.
Life Insurance Corporation of India rose 2% after reporting a quarterly profit rise, helped by strong group business growth.
Honasa Consumer Care jumped 8.5% after posting higher March quarter profit, aided by mid-teens growth at Mamaearth and continued strong momentum in younger brands.
VA Tech Wabag and Rashtriya Chemicals gained 3.6% and 5.5% on posting a sharp uptick in March quarter profit.
Central Bank of India fell 5.4% after the government launched an offer for sale of up to an 8% stake in the state-owned lender, with the floor price set at an 8.6% discount to Thursday's close.
(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Ronojoy Mazumdar)