BENGALURU: Indian shares ended higher on Thursday, led by metals and consumer goods stocks, as the prospect of talks between Russia and Ukraine and state election results favouring Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party lifted investor sentiment.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index was up 1.53% at 16,594.90, at close, and the S&P BSE Sensex was 1.5% higher at 55,464.39. Both the indexes registered their third consecutive session of gains.

“(Nifty’s) 16,800 level is a strong resistance and a bullish sentiment seen in the past three sessions will continue only if it sustains above that level,” said Yesha Shah, head of equity research at Samco Securities.

Both the indexes at their session highs in the day rose more than 2% over ease of concerns around oil prices after United Arab Emirates said it supported pumping more oil into a market roiled by supply disruptions due to sanctions on Russia.