Indian shares higher

Indian shares ended marginally higher on Thursday as gains in private banks and pharma stocks offset losses in metal and IT counters. The BSE index gained for a sixth straight session, ending 0.17 percent higher at 32,241.93. The broader NSE index ended 0.07 percent up at 10,086.60. Wipro was down 4.21 percent as it went ex-dividend. Private lender Axis Bank Ltd rose as much as 3.6 percent, the top percentage gainer on the NSE index, after brokerage firm Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to "buy" and raised its target price to 600 rupees ($9.36).
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd climbed more than 2.4 percent, helping the Nifty Pharma Index gain as much as 2.2 percent. The index had dropped 6.5 percent last month.