BENGALURU: Indian shares tracked Asian peers higher on Tuesday, helped by improving metals demand from China and on hopes that the US Federal Reserve will start cutting rates soon.

The NSE Nifty 50 index was up 0.25% at 24,639.7 as of 9:16 a.m. IST, and the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.28% to 80,658.94.

All 13 major sectors logged gains.

Metals gained 0.7% and was the top sectoral gainer, helped by signs of improving demand in top consumer China and a sliding US dollar on expectations of Federal Reserve rate cut in September.

Weaker US dollar makes metals cheaper for holders of other currencies.

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The broader, more domestically focussed small- and mid-caps gained about 0.5% each.

Meanwhile, other Asian markets also rose, with the MSCI ex-Japan gaining 0.3%.