India's Equity Indexes Rise to Records as Telecom Stocks Gain

(Bloomberg) -- India's benchmark equity index joined Asian peers in a rally on Friday as robust global economic data supported risk-on sentiment.

The S&P BSE Sensex and the broader NSE Nifty 50 Index climbed 0.5 percent, closing at fresh records. All but two of 19 sectoral sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. advanced, led by a gauge of telecom companies.

Idea Cellular Ltd. climbed to a 10-month high after CLSA raised its recommendation on the stock to buy. The company said Thursday it plans to raise as much as $1 billion amid expectations its merger with Vodafone's India unit may happen earlier than scheduled.

“Markets across the globe are trading with a firm foot and the positive mood is showing up in the region,” Chokkalingam G, managing director and founder of Mumbai-based Equinomics Research & Advisory Pvt said.

Benchmark indexes in Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, Hong Kong and Shanghai rose after U.S. shares surged to fresh records Thursday. India will announce its gross domestic product estimates for 2017-18 after market hours today. A Bloomberg survey expects the pace of economic growth to be 6.7 percent in the year through March 2018.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nupur Acharya in Mumbai at nacharya7@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Divya Balji at dbalji1@bloomberg.net, Margo Towie, Namitha Jagadeesh

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