BENGALURU: Indian shares opened higher on Thursday after six consecutive sessions of losses, boosted by gains in metals and auto companies, with investors eyeing support from central banks to allay fears of a global recession.

The NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.9% to 17,005 as of 0351 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.9% to 57,093.19.

Global equities staged a partial comeback on Wednesday, after Britain’s central bank launched an emergency bond buying programme to stabilise the bond market in an attempt to dampen investors’ concerns of a contagion across the financial system.

Indian shares end near two-month lows on fears of global recession

Foreign institutional investors sold a net 27.72 billion Indian rupees ($340.5 million) worth of equities on Wednesday, while domestic investors purchased 25.44 billion rupees of shares, as per provisional data available with the National Stock Exchange.

The Nifty metals index rose 2.5%, while the auto index gained 1.4% Indian cosmetics-to-fashion retailer Nykaa’s parent FSN E-Commerce Ventures rose 4.3% after the company said it will consider an issue of bonus shares.