Indian shares ended higher for a second consecutive session on Tuesday, mirroring the previous session's move of a surge in the last two hours, ahead of the expiry of futures and options contracts later this week. The benchmark BSE index closed up 0.45 percent at 35,513.14.
The broader NSE index ended 0.54 percent higher at 10,685.60. Sentiment was boosted by IT stocks while shares of metal firms and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd dragged it lower. India's volatility index, a measure of stock market volatility, fell as much as 18.6 percent on Tuesday, but pared most losses and was last lower by 7 percent.
Metal stocks pulled the NSE index lower, with the Nifty metal index down as much as 2.1 percent. It has fallen 19.5 percent so far this year, contrary to its jump of over 40 percent in each of the past two years.
JSW Steel Ltd plunged 4.6 percent after Morgan Stanley cut its rating on the stock to 'underweight' from 'equalweight'. Profitability of Indian steel companies is at decade-high, the brokerage added.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries was the top drag on the index, falling over 7 percent. Other drugmakers followed suit, with the Nifty pharma index down 1.8 percent.
Still, sentiment was supported by gains in large-cap stocks such as Infosys Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd and HDFC Bank Ltd. Investors are also cautious ahead of the expiry of futures and options (F&O) contracts on Thursday and the release of India's gross domestic product data for the September quarter on Friday.
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