Sensex, Nifty Extend Gains For Fourth Day

(RTTNews) - Indian shares rose on Tuesday, although key benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty ended off their day's highs as investors awaited cues from the upcoming September-quarter earnings season.

Underlying sentiment remained supported somewhat amid expectations that the Reserve Bank of India's big push for business reforms and easier lending will boost GDP growth.

The benchmark BSE Sensex ended the session up 136.63 points, or 0.17 percent, at 81,926.75, extending gains for a fourth consecutive session.

The broader NSE Nifty index edged up by 30.65 points, 0.12 percent, to 25,108.30. The BSE mid-cap index rose half a percent, but the small-cap index slipped 0.2 percent.

The market breadth was weak on the BSE, with 2,316 shares declining while 1,847 shares advanced and 159 shares closed unchanged.

Among the top gainers, Bharti Airtel and HCL Technologies both ended up around 1.5 percent.

Eternal, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, Power Grid Corp and UltraTech Cement all rose around 1 percent.

Globally, other Asian markets ended mixed in thin holiday trade as the U.S. government shutdown dragged on and the French political turmoil deepened.

European shares were subdued in early trade, with a deepening political crisis in France and weak factory orders data from Germany weighing on markets.

Gold slipped from a new record high reached earlier in the session as the dollar index inched up on hawkish remarks from a Federal Reserve official.

The greenback also drew support from a weaker yen, which hit a two-month low against the dollar amid expectations that Liberal Democratic Party candidate Sanae Takaichi will pursue a more expansionist administration.

Oil prices traded lower in European trading after gaining more than 1 percent in the previous session following a smaller-than-expected November output hike by OPEC+.