Indian shares crawled 0.2 percent higher in choppy trade on Wednesday, helped by small gains in world equities, but concerns over unrest in the Middle East weighed on investor sentiment. Energy giant Reliance Industries led the charge. Reliance Industries, which has the highest weighting on the main index, gained nearly 1 percent after the upstream regulator said it is likely to raise gas output from its east coast blocks to 67 million metric standard cubic metres a day by April.
The 30-share BSE index gained 0.16 percent, or 30.30 points, to 18,469.95 points, with 16 of its components advancing. The 50-share NSE index, or Nifty, closed 0.2 percent higher at 5,531 points. The main BSE index is down nearly 10 percent year-to-date as foreign funds sold a net of $1.9 billion of Indian stocks from the start of the year to March 7.
Indian stocks got an early boost after the ruling Congress party struck a deal with a key ally in a row over seat-sharing in a state election, ending days of jitters over the stability of a government already hit by a series of crises. The country's no. 2 mobile operator Reliance Communications closed up 9.4 percent and was the most traded amongst main stocks on the BSE. Earlier in the day, CNBC-TV18 reported, citing sources, that American Tower Corp could be the highest bidder for Reliance Communications' tower arm. A Reliance Communications spokesman declined to comment.
Auto makers raced ahead as car sales in India rose 22.6 percent in February, an industry body said, driven by a growing middle class in Asia's third-largest economy. Vehicle majors Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra , Bajaj Auto and Hero Honda rose between 0.2 percent and 2.3 percent.
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