Sensex, Nifty End Modestly Higher Ahead Of Exit Poll Outcome

(RTTNews) - Indian shares eked out modest gains on Friday as a downward revision to U.S. first-quarter GDP data revived hopes for Fed rate cuts this year.

Falling oil prices also offered some support but the upside was capped by hawkish comments by New York Fed President John Williams and the release of sluggish PMI data from China.

The benchmark S&P/BSE Sensex inched up by 75.71 points, or 0.10 percent, to 73,961.31 in cautious trade as the final phase of the Lok Sabha election, spanning seven phases, ends on Saturday.

With hours left for the exit polls, poll strategist Prashant Kishor said that he expects Modi-led BJP to get same number of seats it bagged in 2019 elections or may perform even better.

The broader NSE Nifty index closed up 42.05 points, or 0.19 percent, at 22,530.70, with Adani Group stocks leading the surge.

Adani Enterprises surged 6.9 percent and Adani Ports rallied 4 percent while Tata Steel, Coal India and Shriram Finance rose 2-4 percent.

On the losing side, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, LTIMindTree, Nestle India and Divis Laboratories all fell around 2 percent.

Cues from Asia and Europe were mixed as China PMI data disappointed and Eurozone inflation rose for the first time this year in May - adding to worries about how slowly the European Central Bank will cut interest rates.

Later today, the U.S. Commerce Department is due to release its report on personal income and spending in the month of April, which includes readings on inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve.

Fed Bank of New York President John Williams said Thursday he doesn't see any imminent need to cut interest rates.

Oil prices held steady in European trade, after having fallen nearly 2 percent in the previous session on EIA data showing a jump in gasoline inventories in the week ended May 24th.

Gold lacked direction but was on track for a fourth monthly gain.