Indian stocks closed slightly ahead on Monday, due to climbing oil prices and pending insights from various global central bank meetings. Scheduled consultations this week include those of the Bank of Japan, Reserve Bank of Australia, the Federal Reserve, Swiss National Bank, and the Bank of England.
A shift from the Bank of Japan's significantly dovish monetary policy is anticipated, while it is hoped that guidance concerning future interest rate changes will be gleaned from the Federal Reserve's policy statement and dot plots. A surge in U.S. inflation readings, beyond expectations, has dampened hope for an initial rate cut by the Federal Reserve in June.
Data from the CME Group's FedWatch Tool shows a rise in the likelihood of the Federal Reserve maintaining the current rate at its June assembly, increasing from 25 percent to 43.3 percent.
Despite a weak opening, the S&P BSE Sensex—an indicator of India's market health—picked up momentum throughout the day, finishing the session 104.99 points (0.14 percent) higher at 72,748.42. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty index recovered from an initial drop to close 32.35 points (0.15 percent) higher at 22,055.70.
Metal stocks performed particularly well, exceeding predictions due to robust industrial output and retail sales figures from China for the first two months of the year. Tata Steel saw a 5 percent increase and JSW Steel rose by 2.8 percent.
Car manufacturers experienced an upward trend following a recent drop in fuel prices. Mahindra & Mahindra saw a 3.3 percent rise and Tata Motors' shares were lifted by 2.8 percent.
The shifting landscape of inflation and interest rate implications, on the other hand, caused Information Technology stocks such as TCS and Infosys to drop around 2 percent each.
Shares of the Adani Group experienced widespread losses based on news of U.S. prosecutors expanding investigations into potential bribery and the activities of its billionaire founder, Gautam Adani.
