Indian shares climb

Indian shares added 0.48 percent on Wednesday to their highest close in more than two months, powered by gains in IT bellwether Infosys and automaker Tata Motors, as investors resorted to selective buying amid settlement of monthly derivatives contracts.
Hopes of good quarterly earnings sent shares in Tata Motors up 4.05 percent, while Infosys closed 1.7 percent higher on short covering, traders said. The main 30-share BSE index closed 81.4 points higher at 17,077.18, its highest closing level since November 14, with 18 of its components closing in the green. Trading was volatile because of the expiry of monthly derivatives contracts on the National Stock Exchange.
"I see some consolidation happening in coming days and over the next month as remaining quarterly results may throw some negative surprises, while the build up over the past month would also make some space for the downswing," said Gajendra Nagpal, chief executive officer at Unicon Financial Intermediaries.
The benchmark has gained 10 percent so far this month, with foreign funds buying shares worth more than $1 billion. The index fell a quarter in 2011 as foreign funds pulled out about $500 million as 13 rate increases by the central bank stymied economic growth. However, with the Reserve Bank of India slashing the cash reserve requirements for banks by 50 basis points on Tuesday to help ease tight liquidity and indicating its support to domestic growth, hopes for more foreign fund inflows are on the rise.
Energy major Reliance Industries ended 0.9 percent higher, while world's largest coal miner Coal India added 3.9 percent. India's top lender State Bank of India ended up 0.84 percent. Biocon, the country's leading listed biotechnology company, closed 3.4 percent lower after its quarterly net profit dropped a worse-than-expected 15.8 percent. The 50-share NSE index rose 0.6 percent to 5,158.30 points. There were about 1.95 gainers for every loser in the broader market, with about 943 million shares changing hands. Indian markets will be closed on Thursday for a public holiday.