Indian shares rose on Wednesday, snapping four straight sessions of fall, with the trading sentiment supported by a firmer rupee as oil prices plunged.
A bird flies past the logo of National Stock Exchange (NSE) installed on the facade of its building in Mumbai, India, February 9, 2018.
The rupee firmed to a three-week high in morning trade, helped by a sharp fall in global crude oil prices overnight.
Sentiment in Indian markets has been sour in recent weeks after a string of defaults at a major non-banking financial company sparked concerns of a liquidity crunch.
The broader Nifty rose as much as 1.4 per cent in early trade, before giving up some gains to trade 0.26 per cent higher at 10,173.60 as of 0538 GMT.
The benchmark Sensex was trading at 0.27 per cent higher at 33,940.05, reports Reuters.
Oil marketing companies cheered weak crude prices and were among the top gainers on the index.
Shares of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd climbed as much as 5.5 per cent, while those of Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd rose 4.9 per cent to a three-week high.
Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd’s stock was the biggest boost, up 2.8 per cent, while that of ICICI Bank Ltd rose as much as 2.2 per cent.
IT stocks weakened due to a stronger rupee, with the Nifty IT index falling as much as 1.3 per cent to its lowest since June 25.
Shares of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd fell 1.8 per cent, while those of Infosys Ltd slipped 1 percent. Wipro Ltd’s stock fell as much as 2.9 per cent ahead of its quarterly results.
Pharmaceutical stocks slipped, dragging the Nifty Pharma index down 1.4 per cent to a 10-week low. Shares of Dr.Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd fell as much as 3.4 per cent.