Indian shares rise; IT, pharma stocks boost

India's NSE index rose half a percent on Tuesday, rebounding from a seven-month low hit in the previous session, as investors bought into shares of companies such as drug makers that were hit recently. Indian shares had declined in eight out of the previous nine sessions on worries about outflows from emerging markets to the United States and continued concerns about India's move to ban higher-value currency notes.
On Monday, shares were further hit by worries that the government would impose higher taxes on investors, though some of the fears subsided after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said there were no plans to raise long-term capital gains taxes. After the selling over the last few days, there is a "bit of bounce back based on confidence-building measures by the finance minister," said Alok Ranjan, head of research at Way2Wealth Securities.
The broader NSE index was up 0.54 percent at 7,951.20 as of 0657 GMT, boosted by IT and pharma stocks. The index fell to its lowest since May 25 on Monday. The benchmark BSE index was 0.5 percent higher at 25,936.61 after touching its lowest since November 21 on Monday. Aurobindo Pharma Ltd and Lupin Ltd were up 2 percent each after falling about 3 percent on Monday. The Nifty Metal index was up 1 percent after declining about 3 percent on Monday.