Indian shares shrugged off a sluggish start and nudged higher for the first time in three sessions on Tuesday, powered by engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro. Firmer world markets and signs eurozone finance ministers are making progress on the details of a rescue package for the debt-ridden countries helped support sentiment, traders said.
The 30-share BSE index closed up 0.24 percent, or 40.20 points, at 16,875.76 points, after falling 0.5 percent at one point. Nineteen of its components advanced. The benchmark, which had shed 2.5 percent over the previous two sessions, is down 3.9 percent in May as foreign funds pulled out $665 million, lowering net inflows to $5.9 billion in 2010.
Larsen & Toubro rose 3.3 percent to 1,657.95 rupees, its best close in four months, extending the previous day's gains after the leading engineering and construction firm said it was upbeat about the outlook. Oil & Natural Gas Corp climbed 2.2 percent, after a top government official said India would review its fuel pricing system next month. Energy major Reliance Industries, which has the highest weight on the Sensex, added 0.4 percent to 1,020.70 rupees. The stock had shed 6 percent over three previous sessions.
Infosys Technologies and Wipro gained 0.3 percent and 2.2 percent respectively after BNP Paribas Securities said on Monday only a fraction of 13-57 percent revenue that large Indian IT companies get from Europe came from the debt-affected countries there.
Leading mobile operators Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications, which have been battered by a call tariff war, rose 0.5 percent and 2.4 percent respectively.
The stocks, the only two in the benchmark index that declined in 2009, are down 18.6 percent and 16.1 percent so far this year. In the broader market, gainers led losers in a ratio of 1.4:1 on relatively lower volume of 368 million shares. The 50-share NSE index closed 0.1 percent higher at 5,066.20.