Indian shares edged up tracking gains in broader Asia on Thursday buoyed by hopes of a possible rate cut by the US Federal Reserve, a day ahead of the Union Budget.
The broader NSE index was up 0.28 per cent at 11,949.20, while the BSE Index was up 0.26 per cent at 39,948.66 as of 0404 GMT.
Asian markets were up mirroring gains seen on Wall Street, as data hinting at a slowdown in economic growth in the United States fuelled hopes of a possible rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.
The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ticked up 0.3 per cent, reports Reuters.
The Nifty PSU bank index, which tracks India’s state-owned lenders, was up as much as 1.8 per cent.
Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd and Yes Bank Ltd were among the top gainers on the NSE index.
Shares of Indiabulls Finance climbed 4.0 per cent. It was on track for their fourth straight day of gains while Yes Bank shares were up as much as 2.4 per cent.
Meanwhile, The Nifty IT index was trading down as much as 0.2 per cent. HCL Technologies was down as much as 1.3% while shares of Mindtree Ltd were down as much as 1.7 per cent.
On Wednesday, conglomerate Larsen & Toubro Ltd bought a 60.06 per cent stake in Mindtree.