BENGALURU: Indian shares recouped early losses to close higher on Tuesday as oil explorer ONGC and aluminium producer Hindalco rose on a rebound in commodity prices after China relaxed some COVID-19 curbs.

The NSE Nifty 50 index ended 0.11% higher at 15,850.2, and the S&P BSE Sensex edged up 0.03% at 53,177.45 in last-hour buying, managing to gain for a fourth straight day after falling up to 0.7% each earlier in the session.

Rising oil prices put pressure on the rupee, which ended at a record closing low of 78.77 per dollar, after falling to an all-time low of 78.84 in the session.

China eased some quarantine requirements for international arrivals on Tuesday, raising hopes for stronger growth and a revival in demand for commodities, pushing broader stocks and prices of metals and crude higher.

India shares close at over 2-week high as tech, metal stocks gain

State-owned ONGC was the top Nifty percentage gainer, rising 5.6% to log its best session since mid-May. Hindalco Industries climbed 4.1%, gaining for a fourth straight session.

The Nifty Metal index rose 1.7% and the Nifty Energy index added 1%. The Nifty Auto index climbed 1.3%, boosted by a 2.7% rise in Mahindra and Mahindra.

Coal India advanced 2.7% to a near two-week high.

Meanwhile, shares of Titan Company slumped 3.5%, while Asian Paints, which uses crude derivatives, slid 3.4%, marking its worst day since May 25.

Food delivery firm Zomato plunged 8.4%, costing investors nearly $1 billion over two sessions after announcing a deal to buy local grocery-delivery startup Blinkit last week.

Despite the benchmark indexes’ multiple-session winning run, they are on course for their worst month since the pandemic-hit March of 2020 due to hefty losses earlier in June on inflation and interest rate worries.