Nifty, Sensex gain as September-quarter earnings season gathers steam

Indian shares moved higher on Wednesday, as investors looked towards a rise in September-quarter earnings for companies after the government`s corporate tax cut, amid a rise in inflation and hopes of further rate cuts from the central bank.

The broader NSE Nifty rose 0.4 per cent at 11,474.90 as of 0408 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was up 0.35 per cent at 38,634.90.

The September-quarter earnings season has so far seen blue-chip companies such as Hindustan Unilever (HUL) , Wipro Ltd and ACC Ltd beat estimates.

Earnings were in-part helped by the government`s move to slash corporate taxes last month.

Federal Bank and Mindtree Ltd are among the companies scheduled to report earnings later on Wednesday. Both the companies` shares were up between 0.5 per cent and 1 per cent ahead of the announcement.

Meanwhile, retail inflation for September rose, but a sharp economic slowdown has left analysts predicting a further rate cut by the Reserve bank of India.

"Investors are hoping for optimism from corporates in their Q2 earnings commentary led by corporate tax rate cuts and revival in consumer demand," said Rajesh Cheruvu, chief investment officer at Validus Wealth.

Broader Asian shares that rose in line with overnight gains in U.S. equities also supported Indian indexes.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 per cent.

In the domestic market, Bharat Petroleum Corp topped the gainers list on the Nifty index, as the stock rose 4.79 per cent.

Wipro shares were up about 2.7 per cent after the company reported better-than-expected September-quarter earnings and also gave an optimistic revenue forecast for the next quarter.

Among other companies that reported earnings on Tuesday, ACC Ltd rose 2.69 per cent, while the Multi Commodity Exchange of India was up about 7%.

However, Vedanta Ltd was the morning`s top loser on the NSE index, dropping 1.4 per cent.