BENGALURU: Indian shares ended higher on Thursday on the back of gains in Reliance Industries and technology stocks, with investor sentiment getting a boost from a pullback in crude oil prices.

After struggling for direction for most of the session, the NSE Nifty 50 index settled up 0.64% at 16,628 and the S&P BSE Sensex closed 0.79% higher at 55,818.11.

Global peers were steady, with MSCI’s benchmark for global stocks trading down 0.05% as bets that Saudi Arabia may boost crude production helped balance concerns over surging inflation and monetary policy tightening.

Reliance Industries - India’s most valuable company - led gains in Mumbai trading to add 3.5%. The conglomerate said on Wednesday that Reliance Brands and Italy’s Plastic Legno SPA have formed a venture to buy a 40% stake in Plastic Legno SPA’s toy manufacturing business in India.

The rally in Reliance helped Nifty’s Energy sub-index settle 2% higher.

Indian shares drop for second day as IT, pharma stocks drag

IT stocks advanced 1.8% after two consecutive sessions of losses.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries broke a losing streak that began after its quarterly results on May 30 to end 2.4% higher and was among the top three gainers on the Nifty 50 index.

Financial services firm Religare Enterprises surged 11.5% after it said lenders of its debt-ridden unit, Religare Finvest, had in-principle agreed to consider a one-time settlement offer.

Bucking the trend, automaker Hero MotoCorp lost 3.4% after delaying the launch of its first electric vehicle.

This pushed the Nifty auto sub-index down by 0.6%.