Indian share benchmarks closed at a record high on Monday as investors took comfort from low inflation and a deluge of foreign fund inflows. The weather office IMD’s forecast of a normal monsoon coupled with bulging granaries indicate to a benign inflation and faster industrial expansion, which is likely to boost India Inc’s earnings and improve stock valuation in the coming months. Both foreign and domestic investors were enthused by a low inflation number under the new data series that included more items and shifted the base to 2011-12 from the earlier 2004-05. While the whole sale inflation (WPI) slowed to 3.85% in April from 5.3% from March, the retail or consumer price inflation (CPI) eased to 2.99% in April, the lowest under the new data series. The industrial output under the new data series showed an expansion of 5% during 2016-17, from 3.4% in the previous year.

Source: Hindustan Times May 15, 2017 10:52 UTC