Indian Shares Extend Gains For Fourth Day

(RTTNews) - Indian shares ended higher for a fourth consecutive session on Wednesday amid the easing of geopolitical tensions in West Asia and ahead of the Federal Reserve's rate decision under Chair Kevin Warsh later in the day.

The rupee touching a six-week high and falling Brent crude prices to around $78 a barrel helped underpin sentiment as investors await clarity over the specifics of the U.S.-Iran peace deal that will be formally signed on Friday in Switzerland.

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding is likely to pave the way for a 60-day negotiating process to address key issues that have plagued U.S.-Iran diplomacy for decades.

The framework may rapidly unlock Iranian oil exports, channel funds into its economy and begin a phased rollback of sanctions in exchange for nuclear curbs.

The benchmark BSE Sensex rose by 347.14 points, or 0.45 percent, to 77,155.62 while the NSE Nifty index ended up 96.55 points, or 0.40 percent, at 24,085.70.

The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indexes surged 0.7 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.

The market breadth was strong on the BSE, with 2,408 shares rising while 1,874 shares fell and 161 shares closed unchanged.

Among the top gainers, retail major Trent soared 7 percent as investors focused on strong demand, stable margins and growth prospects.

SBI, Sun Pharma, TCS, Bharti Airtel, Titan Company, Infosys, Tata Steel, Eternal and BEL rallied 1-3 percent.