Indian shares extend gains ahead of Feb inflation data

BENGALURU — Indian shares rose on Monday, extending gains from the previous week, as financial heavyweights advanced, while global investor sentiment was also buoyed by hopes of progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.24% to 16,670.20 by 0352 GMT and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.35% to 55,746.

Most stocks markets in Asia firmed after both Russia and Ukraine gave their most upbeat assessment yet of prospects for talks.

In domestic news, investors will be looking out for data on February retail inflation, due later in the day, which likely slipped marginally, according to a Reuters poll last week.

In Mumbai trading, the Nifty Bank Index and the Nifty Financial Services Index gained 1.15% and 0.90%, respectively.

HDFC Bank added 2.4% after the company said on Saturday the central bank had lifted restrictions on some of its activities under its digital program.

Among individual stocks, digital payments company Paytm slid 10.2%, after the central bank barred Paytm Payments Bank from taking on new customers and ordered a comprehensive audit of its IT systems.

(Reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)