Indian shares rose on Wednesday, helped by realty and metal stocks, with investors eyeing State Bank of India’s quarterly results and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s stimulus-tapering plans due later in the day.

By 0509 GMT, the blue chip NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was up 0.38% at 17,956.25, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) had rose 0.35% to 60,239.36.

Both indexes have rebounded from sharp falls last week triggered by overvaluation concerns and heavy foreign selling, and are on course to gain about 1.6% each in this holiday-shortened week.

“Markets are at such a level where people are excited and at the same time, are cautious,” said Shrikant Chouhan, executive vice-president of equity research at Kotak Securities.

Broader markets are almost certain the Fed will announce the tapering of its $120 billion-a-month asset purchase programme.

In Mumbai trading, the Nifty Metal Index (.NIFTYMET) gained 0.84% after posting heavy losses in the previous session.

The Nifty Realty Index (.NIFTYREAL) gained for a fourth straight session, rising 2.04%, as the festive season adds to demand for housing and office spaces.

Shares in Airtel (BRTI.NS) rose as much as 2.6% before reversing course to trade marginally lower. The wireless carrier on Tuesday reported a rise in quarterly revenue.

Shares of State Bank of India (SBI.NS) were up 0.4%, as India’s biggest lender is due to post September-quarter results later in the day.

Among other individual stocks, business process management and analytics services provider eClerx Services (ECLE.NS) rose 9% after posting a jump in quarterly profit and revenue.

Indian markets will be open for a special “muhurat” trading session on Thursday and will be closed on Friday for the festive season of Diwali.

Reuters

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