Indian stocks closed higher on Wednesday, led by gains in export-focussed companies after the rupee fell to a near two-year low in early trades, while bullish brokerage calls also helped drugmakers such as Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. The BSE index ended 0.36 percent higher and the NSE index closed up 0.34 percent after two sessions of losses.
Upbeat economic data from the United States and a weak rupee are helping IT stocks, said Alex Mathews, head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas. Shares of export-focussed companies led the gains. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 4.5 percent after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral", citing the company's integration with Ranbaxy Laboratories, price hikes at unit Taro and improvement in US supplies as key reasons.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals shares jumped as much as 5.9 percent after the company received final approval from the US FDA for a copy of Bayer's Yaz contraceptive drug. Among IT stocks, Infosys rose 1.6 percent, HCL Tech gained 2.6 percent and Wipro increased 2.5 percent. Shares of Delhi-based developers rose after reports that the country's environment ministry spelt out the dimensions of the eco-sensitive zone around Noida's Okhla bird sanctuary by limiting it to 1 KM. The move is expected to unfreeze projects that have been in limbo for two years.