Indian shares gain as financials rebound, SBI results awaited

Indian shares rose on Friday, helped by a rebound in financial stocks, as investors awaited quarterly earnings results from State Bank of India, the country’s largest lender by assets. The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index <.NSEI> climbed 0.55% to 14,987.85 by 0355 GMT, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex <.BSESN> rose 0.57% to 49,845.78.
Investor sentiment was also helped by a rise in broader Asian markets, following overnight gains on Wall Street as fears receded about inflation and an early tapering of stimulus by the U.S. Federal Reserve. In Mumbai trading, the Nifty Bank Index <.NSEBANK> rose 1.13% after a more than 1% drop on Thursday. Private-sector lenders HDFC Bank <HDBK.NS> and ICICI Bank <ICBK.NS> were the top boosts to the Nifty 50.