Indian shares end higher as IT, financial stocks gain

BENGALURU: Indian shares closed higher on Tuesday after retreating from fresh peaks scaled earlier in the session, as losses in automakers and metal companies tempered gains in IT and telecom stocks.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex hit record highs earlier in the day, but gave up some gains to end 0.13% higher at 16,280.10 and 0.28% up at 54,554.66, respectively.

Shares of food delivery company Zomato fell about 4.1% ahead of the company's first quarterly results since going public last month. Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the top gainers, while Shree Cement, SBI and Grasim industries were the top laggards.

The Nifty IT index advanced 0.9% and the S&P BSE Telecom index climbed 2.1%.

Indian shares end higher as IT stocks, banks gain

The Nifty Metal index fell 2.77%, following a slump in iron ore as concerns about weakening Chinese demand kept the steel-making ingredient under pressure. Shares of India's Tata Steel ended 3% lower.

The Indian rupee weakened to its lowest level in almost two weeks, in line with other Asian currencies, which fell tracking the broad dollar strength.

Global shares hovered below record highs on Tuesday, while anticipation of earlier tapering by the Federal Reserve kept investors cautious which drove the US dollar to a four-month high versus the euro.