BENGALURU: Indian shares edged higher on Wednesday, boosted by consumer stocks, as plunge in oil prices provided some relief to the country that saw unrelenting inflation in June.

India’s annual consumer inflation remained painfully above the 7% mark, beyond the central bank’s tolerance band for a sixth month in a row, official data showed on Tuesday, raising prospects of more rate hikes by central bank next month.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.5% at 16,133, as of 0347 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.53% to 54,154.32.

The Nifty fast moving consumer index rose 0.8%, while the public sector bank index gained 1.1%.

Indian shares drop on caution ahead of inflation data

Global benchmark Brent crude tumbled $7 on Tuesday to settle below $100 a barrel for the first time in three months.

India, world’s third largest importer of oil benefits from fall in crude prices as it brings down imported inflation in the country.

Now market focus is on US consumer price index due later in the day, to gauge the path of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

Shares of HCL Technologies fell 2.3% after the IT services provider missed quarterly profit estimates.