Nifty 50's best month since July 2022 on IT, energy stocks, GDP data eyed

GDP growth is forecast to have moderated to 6.8% in the September-quarter from 7.8% in the previous quarter, but the country still remained the fastest growing major economy, according to Reuters

India's blue-chip index Nifty 50 logged its biggest monthly gain in November since July 2022, led by information technology (IT) and energy stocks, as bets of U.S. interest rate cut by March 2024 triggered foreign inflows.

The NSE Nifty 50 index jumped 5.52% this month while the S&P BSE Sensex climbed 4.87% to gain the most in 13 months.

High weightage IT added 6.54% in November, after soft U.S. inflation data and dovish comments from key Federal Reserve officials heightened expectations of rate cut. IT companies earn a significant share of their revenue from the U.S.

Energy and oil & gas jumped 9.37% and 11.39%, respectively in November, supported by a 4% drop in Brent crude prices. A fall in oil prices is a positive for importers of the commodity like India. 

Auto surged 10.28% in November to new record highs, aided by a recovery in rural demand.

Realty jumped 18.34% on strong quarterly results and robust demand outlook.

"Domestic equities are buoyed by the return of foreign inflows on rising evidence that the U.S. rate cycle has peaked," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of research at SMC Securities.

Foreign portfolio investors turned net buyers of Indian equities in November, after a two-month selling streak.

India's strong macroeconomic fundamentals also aided the risk-on sentiment, Jain added.

India's GDP growth is forecast to have moderated to 6.8% in the September-quarter from 7.8% in the previous quarter, but the country still remained the fastest growing major economy, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

The data is due at 5:30 p.m. IST on Thursday.

The more domestically-focussed small- and mid-caps outperformed their larger peers, rising 12.03% and 10.37% in November.

On the day, the Nifty 50 and Sensex rose 0.18% and 0.13%, respectively.