Indian shares rise as IT and automobile stocks boost, crude prices fall

BENGALURU (Reuters) -Indian shares climbed in early trades on Monday, after rising for two consecutive weeks, boosted by IT and automobile stocks and tracking gains in Asian equities and a fall in oil prices.

The NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.97% to 17,959.30 as of 0402 GMT, and the S&P BSE Sensex was 0.99% higher at 60,555.83.

For the month as of last close, the indexes have added more than 4% each on the back of corporate earnings reports and hopes of a less-hawkish stance from major central banks.

Oil prices fell on Monday on concerns that widening COVID-19 curbs in China will curtail demand, while India, the world's third-biggest importer of oil, benefits from a slide in prices as it brings down imported inflation. [O/R]

Investors this week will be looking for outcomes of policy meetings of the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.

A meeting of the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee is also expected.

Scheduled for Nov. 3, the meeting would potentially discuss the Committee's response to the government on its failure to stick to its inflation target for three quarters in a row.

In domestic trading, Nifty's IT, automobile, and pharma indexes were among the top performers, adding more than 1% each.

Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India, and Eicher Motors were among the top gainers on the Nifty 50 index, rising over 2% each.

Asian stock markets climbed cautiously on Monday on hopes that the Federal Reserve might sound less aggressive about rate hikes this week. [MKTS/GLOB]

(Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Janane Venkatraman)