Indian shares reversed early losses to end higher on Thursday, with IT stocks such as Tech Mahindra Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd contributing to majority of the gains. The broader NSE index closed 0.1 percent higher at 8,778.40, while the benchmark BSE index also gained 0.1 percent to close at 28,329.70. Both indexes had fallen as much as 0.5 percent earlier in the session.
The NSE index posted two consecutive sessions of gains, while the BSE index snapped two straight days of losses.
Analysts had expected the Reserve Bank of India to cut the repo rate by another 25 basis points, either on Wednesday or at its next review in April, after bringing it down by 175 bps during January 2015 to October last year.
Indian stocks hit four-month highs earlier this week in anticipation of that easing, but analysts said there were still positives from the RBI meeting, including expectations banks would have scope to lower their lending rates if the system remains flush with liquidity.
Banking stocks were the biggest laggards on the NSE index with ICICI Bank Ltd and State Bank of India Ltd falling as much as 2.2 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.