Sensex edges higher; TCS gains on hopes of share buyback

By Jessica Kuruthukulangara

(Reuters) - Indian shares edged higher or Wednesday, set for their third straight winning session, as top software services exporter Tata Consultancy Services Ltd gained on hopes that it would buy back stock, while solid monthly industrial growth data on Tuesday boosted market sentiment.

Industrial output grew 4.9 percent in April from a year earlier, driven by a pick up in manufacturing, while annual retail inflation accelerated to a four-month high in May, driven by higher fuel prices and a depreciating rupee, government data showed on Tuesday.

"There is still an undercurrent of optimism. Impact of inflation may not be so much but industrial output figures were decent, which is supportive for the markets," said Jayant Manglik, president, Religare Broking.

Globally, investors are waiting for the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision later in the day and any clues it might give on future rate increases that could alter the course of global economic growth and corporate earnings.

"We'll have to wait for the Fed decision to be announced and then perhaps we'll see some action," Manglik added.

The broader NSE Nifty was up 0.29 percent at 10,874.20 as of 0611 GMT, while the benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.34 percent higher at 35,813.55.

Tata Consultancy Services rose as much as 2.3 percent after the company said it would consider a share buyback proposal on Friday.

Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries gained as much as 3.8 percent after the drugmaker said on Tuesday that supply restrictions imposed on its Halol plant by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have been lifted.

The Nifty pharma index continued its gaining run, rising as much as 2.4 percent and was set to post its sixth session of gains.

KEC International Ltd climbed as much as 3.9 percent after brokerage Macquarie Research initiated coverage on the stock with "outperform" rating.

Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel Ltd dropped as much as 1.9 percent and Idea Cellular Ltd fell over 5 percent after rival Reliance Jio, the telecoms arm of Reliance Industries Ltd, responded to Airtel's latest plan by offering more data to users.

(Reporting by Jessica Kuruthukulangara in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)