BENGALURU: Indian shares snapped their worst losing streak in more than 10 months on Tuesday, helped by top domestic car maker Maruti Suzuki soaring on better-than-expected margins and Axis Bank on the back of strong earnings.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index closed 0.75% higher at 17,277.95, while the S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.64% to 57,858.15, after five straight sessions of heavy losses driven by foreign investor selling.

The indexes fell as much as 1.9% earlier in the session, in line with global peers, driven by tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine and expectations of a more hawkish US Federal Reserve.

Maruti Suzuki posted a bigger-than-expected drop in quarterly profit. But its shares surged 6.8% as a series of price hikes last year, aimed at mitigating rising material costs, helped improve margins.

Axis Bank ended 6.8% higher on its best day in nearly a year after the private-sector lender beat estimates for quarterly profit.