MUMBAI: Indian shares edged higher on Wednesday, driven by broad-based gains, as progress in trade talks with the United States and expectations of a rate cut by the U.S Federal Reserve later in the day buoyed investor sentiment.
The Nifty 50 rose 0.36 percent to 25,330.25 and the BSE Sensex added 0.38 percent to 82,693.71, closing at two-month high levels.
With the day’s gains, the 50-stock index has risen in ten of the last eleven sessions, and is 3.6 percent off its lifetime high of 26,277.35 points hit in September last year.
Eleven of the 16 major sectors logged gains on the day. The broader small-caps and mid-caps added 0.7 percent and 0.1 percent, respectively.
“Some stability has returned to the market with progress in US trade talks after weeks of deadlock. We expect Nifty to rise further towards 25,800-point level in the near term,” said Sunny Agrawal, head of fundamental equity research at SBICAPS Securities.