(Reuters) -Indian shares opened higher on Friday, as strong earnings reports, including from Axis Bank, helped resist the weakness in global markets on fears of the impact of aggressive rate hikes from central banks on economic growth and corporate results.
The NSE Nifty 50 index was 0.32% higher at 17,619.65, as of 0348 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.34% at 59,406.65. Both indexes were set to add to a five-session rally
If the gains hold, the indexes will likely post their biggest weekly rise since late July, despite weak investor sentiment globally for risk assets.
Further aiding sentiment, foreign institutional investors bought a net 18.65 billion Indian rupees ($225.2 million) worth of equities on Thursday, while domestic investors sold net 8.87 billion rupees worth of shares, as per provisional data available with the National Stock Exchange.
Asian shares were down on Friday tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, while Treasury yields scaled 14-year highs as investors braced for expected aggressive rate hike from the European Central Bank next week, and the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England early next month.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5%.
In early trade in India, the Nifty private sector and public sector bank indexes were among the top performers in early trade, rising over 0.7% each.
Axis Bank surged as much as 6.5% to hit a record high and was the top gainer on the Nifty 50 index. The private lender reported a better-than-expected 70% jump in second-quarter profit on Thursday.
Oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries, India's most valuable company, was up 0.2% ahead of it quarterly earnings results later in the day.