Indian shares low as investors focus on Reliance results

Gulf Today Report 

Indian shares remain flat on Friday after major indexes hit record highs and investors turned their attention to Reliance Industries’ quarterly earnings.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index fell 0.04% to 14,585.30 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex slipped 0.1% to 49,556.13.

Mayuresh Joshi, head of equity research at William O’Neil & Co in India said, "once you hit all-time highs there will be profit bookings. But, liquidity is pretty strong and is not going to stop all of a sudden. That is a huge support for the market."

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The Nifty auto index led the gains, jumping by 3.8% with Bajaj Auto leading gains after strong quarterly results.

Joshi added that "auto has seen significant traction in the last few days. Sectors like auto correspond in terms of how the economy will shape up... There are expectations in terms of demand normalizing to pre-COVID levels and balance sheet strength with inherent demand coming back."

Reliance Industries declined by 1% ahead of its December quarter earnings but it gained above 8% this week.