Indian shares rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday, recovering from earlier falls to post their biggest single-day percentage gain since July 10, reflecting upbeat mood across global markets ahead of minutes of the US Federal Reserve's latest meeting. The benchmark BSE index closed up 1.02 percent at 31,770.89, recovering from an earlier fall of as much as 0.16 percent to gain for a second consecutive session.
The broader NSE index ended 1.05 percent higher at 9,897.30, rebounding from an earlier decline of as much as 0.21 percent. Sentiment was largely muted in Asia, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising 0.1 percent. Wall Street ended nearly flat on Tuesday.
Since hitting an all-time high on August 2, India's broader NSE index has fallen more than 3 percent on profit-taking as well as a flare-up in tensions between the United States and North Korea. Caution prevailed as a faster-than-expected rise in consumer price inflation in July reduced the chances of another interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India, which cut its main policy rate early this month by 25 basis points to 6 percent, the lowest since November 2010.
"There is complete lack of triggers, all the movement has been on geopolitical situation till now," said Jayant Manglik, president, retail distribution, Religare Securities.
Markets were closed on Tuesday for a public holiday. Consumer stocks gained as the Nifty FMCG index rose nearly 2 percent in its biggest intraday percentage gain in over a month, recovering from recent losses sparked by worries about the impact from India's new goods and services tax. Nifty Auto index was trading 0.87 percent higher, with TVS Motor Company Ltd and Motherson Sumi Systems Ltd being the top percentage gainers. The sub-index has risen about 16.6 percent this year, lagging a 20 percent gain in the broader NSE index.