Indian shares eked out a 0.2 percent gain on Tuesday after falling for two consecutive sessions, but trading was volatile and the near-term outlook seemed subdued as investors shunned risk after rating agency Standard & Poor's lowered its US credit outlook to negative. HDFC Bank, the country's third-largest lender, climbed 1.5 percent after its quarterly profit rose a third, beating street forecast. Larger rival ICICI Bank rose 0.6 percent.
The 30-share BSE index rose 0.16 percent or 30.66 points to 19,121.83 points, with 18 components advancing. It fell as much as 0.6 percent at one stage. The index had shed more than 3 percent over previous two sessions, but is up 7.3 percent since the start of March following the return of foreign funds. Foreign funds have poured $3.1 billion into Indian equities since the start of March after being net sellers in January and February. The BSE index is down 6.8 percent in the year to date. The 50-share NSE index gained 0.2 percent to 5,740.75. Losing shares outnumbered advancing ones in the ratio of 1.1 to 1 on a volume of 605 million shares on NSE, lower than the 30-day average daily volume of 618 million.
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