BENGALURU: Indian shares advanced on Wednesday, powered by metal stocks, ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) policy decision on Thursday.

The Nifty 50 index was up 0.32% at 19,632.55, while the S&P BSE Sensex settled 0.23% higher to 65,995.81.

European markets rose after Italy said that windfall tax on bank profits would be lesser than feared, lifting mood after deflation concerns in China and a Moody’s downgrade of several small to mid-sized U.S. banks hurt sentiment.

Eight of the 13 major sectoral indexes gained, with the metal index adding 2.03%. Hindalco Industries rose 3.11% and was among the top Nifty 50 gainers.

The company lost 2.17% on Tuesday after reporting a slide in June quarter profit, but analysts expect profitability to improve.

Indian shares open flat ahead of RBI decision, US inflation data

Investors also await U.S. inflation data and the RBI’s policy decision due on Thursday. While the RBI is largely expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged, market participants will keep a close eye on the central bank’s commentary.

“The earnings season has been quite mixed, but markets will take the double digit earnings growth positively, given the global concerns,” said Gaurav Dua, senior vice president and head of capital market strategy at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

Among individual stocks, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories rose 3.77% and hit a record high. Analysts said that the drugmaker’s sales could see an uptick from improving pricing situation in the U.S.

Adani Wilmar fell 3.77% after a Bloomberg report said that Adani Enterprises, the flagship firm of the Adani conglomerate, sought to sell a stake in the consumer goods firm.