Indian shares set to rise amid global rally after Fed rate pause

BENGALURU, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Indian shares are set to open higher on Friday as risk appetite improved across global markets on optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve may not hike rates again in this cycle.

Indias GIFT Nifty was up 0.70% at 19,357.50 as of 8:10 a.m. IST, over 200 points above the Nifty 50s (.NSEI) Thursday close of 19,133.25.

Asian markets advanced, with the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index (.MIAPJ0000PUS) gaining nearly 1%.

Wall Street equities rallied overnight, with key indexes gaining over 1.5%, while U.S. 10-year Treasury yields fell to a three-week low.

Global stocks rose and U.S. bond yields slid after the Fed held rates steady in the 5.25%-5.50% range on Wednesday, in a less hawkish-than-expected stance on monetary policy.

“A pause with dovish commentary from the Fed on Wednesday has triggered a rebound in global and domestic market sentiment,\” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

Indias blue-chips Nifty 50 (.NSEI) and Sensex (.BSESN) have gained nearly 0.5% each this week, on track to snap a two-week losing streak.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers on Thursday, offloading 12.61 billion rupees ($151.54 million) of shares on a net basis. Domestic institutional investors bought shares worth 13.80 billion rupees.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

** Tata Motors (TAMO.NS): Automaker posts rise in second-quarter profit on strong JLR sales and pick-up in volumes.

** Lupin (LUPN.NS): Drug maker announces launch of a drug used to control seizures, after receives approval from the U.S. FDA.

** NBCC (NBCC.NS): Co secures two work orders worth 2.12 billion rupees from Haryana government.

** JK Lakshmi Cement (JKLC.NS): Co approves capacity addition of existing split location grinding unit at Surat; expansion will required 2.25 billion rupees investment; also posts rise in second-quarter net profit.

($1 = 83.2140 Indian rupees)