Indian shares snapped three straight sessions of losses, aided by gains in banking and IT stocks, while refiners such as Reliance Industries Ltd surged on a drop in oil prices. The BSE index ended 1.06 percent higher at 33,106.82, while the broader NSE index rose 0.96 percent to end at 10,214.75.
Inventories climbed 1.9 million barrels last week as crude oil production and refining output rose, the Energy Information Administration said. Analysts expected for a decrease of 2.2 million barrels, according to a Reuters poll. On Thursday, oil markets were stable as rising US stocks were countered by expectations that Opec will extend an ongoing production cut during a meeting at the end of this month.
"This is more of a corrective rally after three days of losses," said Arun Kejriwal, Founder at Kejriwal Research. Oil refiners gained as lower crude oil prices cut input costs. The Nifty energy index gained as much as 1.3 percent, with Reliance Industries Ltd rising 1.7 percent and Indian Oil Corp Ltd advancing 1.2 percent. Financials also gained. The Nifty bank index rose 0.5 percent, led by Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd and ICICI Bank Ltd. HDFC rose 0.3 percent, while ICICI was 0.8 percent higher.
Shares of Suzlon Energy Ltd declined as much as 6.2 percent, their lowest in more than a year. The renewable power producer suspended operations and declared a lockout at a plant in the southern Indian state of Karnataka due to a workers' dispute.
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