India's Nifty 50, Sensex scale new highs on IT, metals boost

BENGALURU, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Indias benchmark Nifty 50 and Sensex indexes hit new record highs for the second consecutive session on Friday, led by metals on strong China data and information technology (IT) stocks on improving U.S. interest rate outlook.

The Nifty 50 (.NSEI) was up 0.22% to 20,147.65 by 9:57 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) gained 0.22% to 67,660.52.

Nearly all of Niftys major sectoral indexes advanced, with IT (.NIFTYIT) leading with a 0.85% increase, helped by rising expectations of the U.S. Federal Reserve pausing rates next week.

IT firms earn a significant share of their revenue from the U.S. HCL Tech (HCLT.NS) and Infosys (INFY.NS) were among the top Nifty 50 gainers, rising 1.5% and 1% respectively.

Metals (.NIFTYMET) jumped to a 17-month high after data showed that Chinas August industrial output and retail sales growth beat expectations. China is the largest producer and consumer of metals.

The more domestically focussed small-caps (.NIFSMCP100) and mid-caps (.NIFMDCP100) gained 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.

\“Even though the undercurrent of the market is bullish, the high valuations and new risks like surging crude can weigh on the market,\” said VK Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

\“Even while remaining invested in this rally, investors can consider some profit booking, particularly in overheated small- and mid-cap space.\”

Among individual stocks, HDFC Bank (HDBK.NS) gained 1% after IIFL Alternative Research said the FTSEs semi-annual index review, which will be effective on Sept. 18, could lead to inflows of $650 million into the private lender.

Bajaj Auto (BAJA.NS) gained over 4% after global brokerage BofA upgraded the stock to \“buy\” from \“neutral\” and raised target price to 5,550 rupees from 5,100 rupees.

Bajaj Auto was the top Nifty gainer and powered the auto index (.NIFTYAUTO) 1% higher.

Strides Pharma (SRID.NS) surged as much as 11.50% to a near 20-month high after the drug makers Singapore unit got tentative U.S. FDA approval for a drug used for anti-retroviral therapy in HIV patients.

($1 = 83.0300 Indian rupees)

Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran and Archishma Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Varun H K

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.