Indian shares extend gains as consumer, oil refiners climb

Indian shares extended gains on Tuesday, lifted by consumer stocks after data showed domestic inflation was easing and oil refiners rose on the government's cut on a windfall tax on crude oil.

The Nifty 50 index NIFTY was up 0.68% at 18,017.15 as of 10:38 a.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex SENSEX rose 0.74% to 60,540.43.

"The Nifty is in a range of 17,800 - 18,200 as even with positive domestic cues like inflation slowing and corporate results so far being good, the market is bothered by continuous selling by foreign investors," Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Securities.

Domestic valuations are not cheap after India outperformed major global benchmarks last year, and with China re-opening its borders, funds are getting reallocated to those markets where valuations are relatively attractive, analysts said.

The blue-chip Nifty 50 index rose 4.33% in 2022, while the MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe IIACWI slumped 19.8%.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors extended their selling streak for the seventeenth day in a row - the longest run in six months - offloading 7.51 billion rupees ($92.00 million) worth of equities on a net basis on Monday.

In domestic trading, fast-moving consumer goods CNXFMCG stocks advanced 1.3% and were the best performers among other sectors on hopes that pressure on their margins would ease after data showed India's retail and wholesale prices in December moderated.

Heavyweight Hindustan Unilever HINDUNILVR rose as much as 3% and was among the top gainers on the Nifty 50.

Oil and gas stocks (.NIFOILGAS) were up as much as 0.53% after the country, a major consumer and importer of oil, cut a windfall tax on crude oil and exports of aviation turbine fuel and diesel.

Shares of Reliance Industries RELIANCE1!, Oil India Ltd OIL Chennai Petroleum Corp CHENNPETRO and Mangalore Refinery And Petrochemicals MRPL climbed between 0.7% and 4.4%.

Siemens Ltd SIEMENS rose 3.7% after it said it won a 260 billion rupees order from the Ministry of Railways.

($1 = 81.7760 Indian rupees)