INDIA STOCKS-IT leads India's benchmark indexes higher

Updates for morning trade

By Bharath Rajeswaran

Jan 29 (Reuters) - India's benchmark indexes rose on Wednesday, led by information technology stocks, with investors awaiting the U.S. Federal Reserve's comments on interest rates later in the day.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI gained 0.56% to 23,084.55 points as of 10:38 a.m. IST, while the BSE Sensex .BSESN added 0.52% to 76,296.24.

Twelve of the 13 major sectors advanced. IT stocks .NIFTYIT rose about 1.7%.

Technology stocks have led gains in other Asian markets after powering Wall Street equities higher overnight as worries about the threat of a new low-cost Chinese AI model ebbed. MKTS/GLOB

The Fed is widely expected to hold its benchmark policy rate but the focus is on the central bank's cues on the policy trajectory, especially as President Donald Trump has called for lower rates.

The Fed's commentary is crucial for global markets as they impact foreign flows, including into emerging markets such as India.

Auto index .NIFTYAUTO rose 1.4%. Bajaj Auto BAJA.NS rose 4.2% while TVS Motor TVSM.NS jumped 6.2% despite missing third-quarter profit view on domestic sales slowdown.

Multiple brokerages termed Bajaj Auto's strong export outlook a 'positive' for demand prospects, while they expected TVS Motor's earnings in the next fiscal year to be supported by margin expansion and market-share gains.

The broader small-caps .NIFSMCP100 and mid-caps .NIFMDCP100 gained about 2% each, after three straight sessions of losses.

December-quarter earnings season has been "uninspiring" but with valuations turning reasonable after the recent drop, there is some temporary buying interest in the benchmarks, said analysts led by Seshadri Sen of Emkay Global.

The Nifty and Sensex are down about 12% each from record high levels hit on Sept. 27 and are on course for their longest monthly losing streak in 23 years .

Among individual stocks, SBI Cards and Payment Services SBIC.NS fell 2% after missing December-quarter profit expectations on higher write-offs.

JSW Energy JSWE.NS fell 7% after posting a third-quarter profit drop on subdued power demand.