Indian shares end higher as Reliance, energy stocks gain

BENGALURU: Indian shares closed higher for a third consecutive session on Thursday, boosted by heavyweight Reliance Industries and energy stocks, as investors took cues from higher global risk appetite stemming from dovish signals by the US Federal Reserve.

The NSE Nifty 50 index ended 0.77% higher at 15,097.35 and the S&P BSE Sensex closed up 0.51% at 51,039.31, ahead of December-quarter gross domestic product data due on Friday.

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's reiteration the Fed wouldn't adjust policy until the economy is clearly improving sent stock markets across the globe higher, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising 1.5%.

Analysts have said the prospect of increased liquidity after comments from the Fed has helped Indian equities clock gains.

In Mumbai, conglomerate Reliance Industries was the biggest boost to the Nifty, jumping 4% to scale a four-month high.

Reliance, which fell 3.5% on Monday, has since recovered and is up more than 4% so far this week.

Shares of Coal India closed 8.4% and was the top percentage gainer on the Nifty.

Meanwhile, the National Stock Exchange said it was awaiting "detailed root cause analysis" from telecom service providers and was in touch with the market regulator about Wednesday's outage which saw a trading halt for nearly four hours.

The Nifty energy index closed up 3.05%, led by 5.2% rise in Bharat Petroleum Corp. The index fell 4.5% in January but is up nearly 20% this month.

The Nifty metal index was the top sectoral gainer, closing nearly 4% higher amid a rise in copper prices on hopes of improving demand.

Financial, which saw sharp gains a day after the government allowed private-sector lenders to carry out government transactions, trimmed some gains. The Nifty private bank index pulled back from a 2.5% rise to finish the session 0.49% higher. It is, however, still up over 16% so far in February.