Indian shares rise, echo global rally on U.S. jobs data, dovish Fed

By Chandini Monnappa

(Reuters) - Indian shares traded higher on Monday, reflecting relief witnessed in broader markets, after jitters about a global economic slowdown were pacified by strong U.S. jobs data and a dovish tone by the Federal Reserve.

Risk appetite got a huge boost on Friday when the U.S. payrolls report showed 312,000 net new jobs were created in December, and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the Fed would be flexible in policy decisions this year.

"We have positive outcome from the U.S. and China, our market is showing relatively better signs of stability due to this," said Deven Choksey, founder, KR Choksey Investment Managers.

"Markets are not expecting too much from the earnings season, we remain relatively more cautious on that front at this point of time."

Another corporate results season is set to kick off this week with top software services exporters Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Infosys Ltd scheduled to report their results for the December quarter on Jan. 10 and Jan. 11, respectively.

While the broader NSE Nifty was up 0.87 percent at 10,820.20 as of 0506 GMT, the benchmark BSE Sensex was trading 0.93 percent higher at 36,025.86.

Titan Company Ltd and Tata Motors Ltd were among the biggest gainers on the NSE Nifty.

Shares of watch producer Titan Company Ltd hit their highest since May, rising as much as 3.83 percent after the company said it expects a 22 percent growth in full year jewellery business on Friday.

HDFC Bank's shares were up as much as 0.85 percent. Earlier in the day, the bank said deposits aggregated as of Dec 31 was about 8.53 billion rupees ($123.01 million).

Only six out of the fifty stocks on the NSE benchmark index Nifty were trading lower, with shares of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd slipping nearly one percent.

($1 = 69.3425 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)