Indian shares continue northward journey; RIL hits record high

Indian shares rose for a fifth session on Wednesday, tracking gains in other Asian equities as geopolitical tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile programme receded.

India stocks
Brokers trade at their computer terminals at a stock brokerage firm in Mumbai. (SOURCE:REUTERS) Reuters

Indian shares rose for a fifth session on Wednesday, tracking gains in other Asian equities as geopolitical tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile programme receded.

Asian shares hit a 10-year peak with investors breathing a sigh of relief as North Korean fears eased slightly.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was slightly lower, after earlier poking up to its highest level since October 2007.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500, Dow Jones industrials and Nasdaq Composite all marked record finishes.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously stepped up sanctions against North Korea on Monday over the country's sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3, imposing a ban on the country's textile exports and capping imports of crude oil, Reuters reported.

At 0640 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.27 percent at 32,244 while the broader NSE Nifty rose 0.12 percent at 10,104.

Among the top index gainers, Reliance Industries advanced 3.3 percent, Sun Pharma rose 3 percent, Dr Reddy's rose 2.2 percent while Lupin gained 1 percent.

The S&P BSE Oil & Gas Index added 0.5 percent while the S&P BSE S&P BSE Healthcare Index was up 1.4 percent.

Reliance Industries hit an all time high of Rs 844 a share. The stock was trading more than 3 percent higher. So far this year it gained about 56 percent.

Tata Motors gained 1.3 percent after the automaker said its global wholesales up 9 percent year-on-year to 94,210 in August.

Capital First advanced 3 percent after its overseas investment limit raised by Reserve Bank of India to 50 percent from 24 percent.

Banking stocks gained. Oriental Bank of Commerce added 3.7 percent, Syndicate Bank up 3.1 percent, Dena Bank rose 2.3 percent, Andhra Bank and Indian Overseas Bank rose 1.7 percent each while Bank of Baroda was up 1.4 percent.

Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.

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