Indian Shares End Modestly Higher As Brent Oil Falls Below $100

(RTTNews) - Indian shares ended modestly higher on Wednesday as investors kept a close eye on developments between the U.S. and Iran, and looked forward to a crucial U.S.-China summit on Thursday, which could lead to new trade agreements amid escalating competition and restrictions on advanced technologies.

While softer crude oil prices helped underpin investor sentiment to some extent, a stronger U.S. dollar on prospects of interest rate hikes in the near term served to limit potential gains.

The U.S. dollar held near a two-month high after several Federal Reserve officials stressed that additional rate hikes may be needed to lower inflation.

Oil prices were steady after recent string of losses on hopes for progress in U.S.-Iran talks to end the ongoing conflict in West Asia.

Helping ease concerns over a prolonged conflict, media reports suggested that Iran is ready to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if the United States eases military pressure and lifts its blockade on Iranian ports.

U.S. President Trump reported a productive three-hour meeting between his team and an Iranian delegation in New York, adding they would have another one scheduled in the near future.

Trump said that a deal with Iran may be possible after the midterm elections, but he may instead just decide to "annihilate the Islamic Republic" if no deal is reached.

According to Reuters sources, Saudi Arabia has restarted its East-West oil pipeline and may have resumed exports from the Red Sea port of Yanbu following drone attacks on September 11.

The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex rose 299.17 points, or 0.40 percent, to 74,828.25, while the NSE Nifty index edged up 117.80 points, or half a percent, to 23,446.80.

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

The market breadth was strong on the BSE, with 2,811 shares rising while 1,578 shares fell and 208 shares closed unchanged.

Among the top gainers, Larsen & Toubro, Power Grid Corp, UltraTech Cement, ITC, Bajaj Finance and Tata Steel rallied 2-3 percent.

IT stocks underperformed on AI disruption concerns, with TCS, Infosys and HCL Technologies all falling around 1 percent.