Sensex, Nifty little changed; ICICI Bank results in focus

Indian shares were nearly unchanged on Wednesday as key corporate results including that of ICICI Bank Ltd remained in focus, with investors also keeping an eye out for the outcome of a two-day policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve. The Fed is widely expected to stand pat on interest rates, but may offer hints on the possibility of a rate hike in June.

The broader NSE index was down 0.01 percent at 9,312.15 as of 0608 GMT, while the benchmark BSE index was 0.06 percent lower at 29,904.02. As of Tuesday’s close, the NSE index had gained about 1.8 percent since April 13, when Infosys Ltd kick-started the corporate results reporting season. The BSE index has also risen about 1.6 percent in the same period.

“There is some consolidation in the (domestic) market but broadly the trend has been positive, lifted by a better-than-expected corporate earnings season so far,” said Siddharth Purohit, a senior research analyst with Angel Broking. “Performance in the banking sector is also good with lenders showing a pick-up in growth.”

ICICI Bank, India’s No.3 lender by assets, was trading 0.8 percent lower ahead of results. United Breweries Ltd and United Breweries Holdings Ltd surged as much as 6.2 percent and 9.9 percent, respectively, on reports of a buyout proposal of promoter Vijay Mallya’s stake in United Breweries by Dutch beer maker Heineken International BV.

Real estate company Godrej Properties rose as much as 15.7 percent to a record high after it said it sold 1,000 apartments in Mumbai, Pune and Noida across three new projects since March 2017.

(Reporting By Samantha Kareen Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)

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