Indian shares barely rose on Tuesday, as the gains in auto and media stocks were mostly offset by a slide in metals, ahead of the domestic GDP data for the December quarter.
The Nifty 50 index rose 0.19 per cent to 17,426.30, while the S&P BSE Sensex edged 0.20 per cent higher to 59,410.50 as of 9:50 a.m..
Nine of the 13 sectoral indexes advanced with auto stocks adding nearly 1 per cent. Media index rose more than 1 per cent, powered by Zee Entertainment, which climbed as much as 6.48 per cent.
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The company's F&O contracts with May 2023 expiry will be available for trading from Feb. 28 after NCLT stayed insolvency proceedings.
On the flip side, metal stocks fell over 1.5 per cent and was the top sectoral loser on fears of price correction in non-ferrous metals and potential cuts in steel manufacturing in China due to environmental concerns.
Investors await domestic GDP data for the December quarter, due later in the day. The Indian economy likely grew 4.6 per cent year-on-year, according to a Reuters poll of economists, slower than the 6.3 per cent growth seen in the previous quarter.
Growth in the latest quarter was hobbled by weak global demand and monetary tightening by the Reserve Bank of India.
All three major Wall Street indexes advanced on Monday on bargain hunting. Official data showed core capital goods orders accelerated more than expected in January, suggesting that business spending on equipment picked up.
The new data reinforced fears that the Federal Reserve could hike interest rates to a higher level than currently estimated.