Indian shares creep up as investors await Fed comments

REUTERS - Indian shares edged up on Thursday, tracking gains in Asian stocks, but sentiment remained jittery a day before U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The keynote speech at the global central bankers conference in Jackson Hole has traditionally been an event that Fed chiefs used to signal the direction of monetary policy. The U.S. central bank is currently seen as divided as to whether to raise interest rates at least once in 2016.

Gains were also capped on caution ahead of the expiry of derivatives contracts on Thursday.

"Because of a good rollover, we expect the close to be negative. Investors usually book profits ahead of big events, so a likelihood of that happening is higher today and tomorrow", said AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.24 percent higher at 28,129.67 as of 0521 GMT, while the broader NSE Nifty was up 0.25 percent at 8,671.42.

Among the gainers, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd rose 0.88 percent after falling nearly 5 percent in the previous two sessions, while Tata Motors Ltd was up 0.7 percent after the automaker lost 2.7 percent in the last four sessions.

Tata Global Beverages Ltd rose 2.8 percent on media reports that the company was exploring multiple options for China operations, including restructuring or sale.

Shares in Welspun India Ltd rose 0.5 percent, after declining by their daily limits for three straight sessions through Wednesday as the fallout from Target Corp's decision to terminate business with the firm for passing off cheap sheets as premium Egyptian cotton escalated.

TV Today Network Ltd was up 1.4 percent after the company said it entered into an agreement with Entertainment Network India in relation to TV Today's three private FM radio stations at New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.

But Monsanto India Ltd dropped 2.5 percent after Reuters reported the parent company, Monsanto Co, withdrew an application seeking approval for its next generation of genetically modified cotton seeds in India.

(Reporting by Aastha Agnihotri in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)