BENGALURU: Indian shares scaled to an over one-month high on Monday, as IT and automobile stocks rose, tracking gains in broader Asia on hopes that central banks may slow the pace of interest rate hikes.

The NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.96% to 17,957.10 as of 0450 GMT, and the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 1.01% higher at 60,565.05.

For the month as of last close, the indexes have added more than 4% each on the back of corporate earnings reports and hopes of a less-hawkish stance from major central banks.

“The US economy’s strength is indicating a lower probability of an immediate US recession and indications that inflation is plateauing.

This might enable the Fed to slightly moderate their hawkish stance,“ said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Canadian and Australian central banks have hiked rates below expectations and if this trend spreads, that will favour continuation of the rally in the short-term, Vijayakumar added. Investors this week will be looking for outcomes of policy meetings of the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England.

A meeting of the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee is also expected.

Indian shares post second straight weekly rise as energy, auto climb

Scheduled for Nov. 3, the meeting would potentially discuss the Committee’s response to the government on its failure to stick to its inflation target for three quarters in a row.

In domestic trading, Nifty’s IT and automobile indexes were among the top performers, adding more than 1% each. Automobile makers Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India and Eicher Motors were among the top gainers on the Nifty 50 index, rising between 2% and 3%.

Tata Steel and Bharti Airtel, were 0.7% lower and 1.7% up, respectively, ahead of their quarterly results later in the day.

Asian stock markets climbed on Monday on hopes that the Fed might sound less aggressive about rate hikes.