Financials lead rebound in Indian shares after 3-day drop

BENGALURU, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Indian shares rose on Friday after a three-day losing streak, led by a rebound in financials and information technology stocks.

The blue-chip index NSE Nifty 50 rose 0.91% to 21,657.45 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.91% to 71,835, as of 10:30 a.m. IST.

Both the benchmarks had shed nearly 3% in the last three sessions, with the bulk of the decline led by top private lender HDFC Bank after it posted weak third-quarter margins.

Shares of HDFC Bank, which slumped about 11.5% over the last two sessions, gained 0.5%, on the day. Led by

The financial services index advanced 1.2%.

Private lender ICICI Bank climbed 2.2% ahead of its results on Saturday. Axis Bank, scheduled to announce its earnings on Tuesday, added 2.5%.

IT stocks rose 0.9% after U.S. labour market

data

showed resilience, bolstering hopes of a soft landing for the world's largest economy. IT companies earn a significant share of their revenue from the U.S.

"While the resilience in U.S. economy could delay a Federal Reserve rate cut, the rising probability of a soft landing implies that the worst is probably over for IT sector," said Mayuresh Joshi, head of equity research India at William O'Neil and Company.

The outlook for Indian markets is positive, but the near-term trajectory will be driven by earnings, Joshi added.

Among individual stocks, Titan Company added 2% after CLSA raised its target price. CLSA sees gains for Titan from the robust pricing power of Tanishq brand.

Poonawalla Fincorp advanced 3%. The non-bank lender reported 76.3% year-on-year growth in net profit in December quarter.

Investors are also awaiting the results of the oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries, due post market hours on Friday. The second-heaviest Nifty 50 stock declined 0.33%.