Indian shares ended higher on Thursday, driven by gains in IT stocks after Tata Consultancy Services said its board would consider a share buyback plan next week. The benchmark BSE index closed 0.52 percent up at 28,301.27. The broader NSE index rose 0.61 percent to 8,778.
Infosys ended 3 percent higher. Sun Pharmaceutical industries gained 4.2 percent.
Shares of TCS, the country's biggest software services exporter, rose as much as 2.7 percent to their highest since September 7, 2016, heading for their 10th session of gains in 12 this month.
"It (the share buyback news) will set a floor for the stock in the near term... May improve sentiment for other IT stocks but will be a short-term impact," said Dipen Shah, senior vice president and head of private client group research, Kotak Securities.
The Nifty IT index rose as much as 1.6 percent to a more than five-month high with Infosys 1.7 percent higher and Tech Mahindra up 1.6 percent.
Among other leading gainers, State Bank of India climbed as much as 3 percent after the federal cabinet on Wednesday approved its planned merger with five subsidiary banks.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd and Tata Motors Ltd rose 2.70 percent and 1.9 percent respectively, after declining in the previous session on poor quarterly results.
Among losers, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd fell as much as 3.9 percent after a US court found that the company's anti-nausea drug, palonosetron hydrochlorid, infringed certain US patents.