BENGALURU, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Indian shares advanced on Friday and were set to snap a two-week losing streak, supported by a rise in auto stocks on strong earnings and information technology (IT) stocks on U.S. Federal Reserve's rate pause.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.70% at 19,266.55 as of 10:05 a.m. IST with nearly all of its 50 constituents in the green, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.66% to 64,504.50.
IT stocks rose 1%, extending gains from Thursday after the Fed held rates steady on Wednesday with a less hawkish-than-expected monetary policy stance. IT companies earn a significant share of their revenue from the U.S.
Auto also rose nearly 1%, led by Tata Motors , which added over 2% after reporting strong quarterly earnings, and was among the top Nifty 50 gainers.
"India stands out among emerging markets in terms of growth potential, from a risk-reward perspective," said Mayuresh Joshi, head of equity research at William O'Neil India
The country will likely see "a lion's share of foreign inflows into EMs if buying re-emerges after the Fed rate pause," Joshi added.
Analysts said that the margin of safety is now relatively higher in large-caps than in small- and mid-caps.
The small- and mid-caps gained 1.2% and 0.75%, respectively, outperforming the blue-chips, aided by strong retail inflows.
Asian equities edged higher, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rising 1.4%.
Among individual stocks, Container Corporation of India jumped 5% on posting a higher second-quarter profit driven by strong logistics demand.
Cement maker JK Lakshmi Cement climbed 6%, aided by stronger earnings and capacity addition at its Surat, Gujarat plant.
Drug maker Lupin jumped over 2% after announcing the launch of a drug used to control seizures, which has an estimated annual sales of $37 million in the U.S. (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Varun H K)
