Sensex gains nearly 1 pct; defensives rally

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Indian shares rose nearly 1 percent on Wednesday, heading for their fourth straight session of gains as investors chose to buy defensive stocks such as Hindustan Unilever ahead of the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting later in the day.

India's second-largest company by market value, Reliance Industries , also rose 1.6 percent, extending gains for a fourth consecutive session after Chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Friday that the company could be ready to begin 4G phone services in December.

Value-buying continued as the broader Nifty has lost 11.2 percent so far this year, and had closed below the psychologically important 8,000 level last week.

Sentiment was also underpinned by Asian shares which rose from three-month lows as Chinese shares staged a comeback, and the dollar stayed static as investors waited for clues from a Federal Reserve meeting on when U.S. interest rates are likely to rise.

"Market is recovering after sharp falls and Fed is not expected to be in a hurry to raise rates," said Deven Choksey, managing director at K R Choksey Securities.

The BSE Sensex gained 0.8 percent and the NSE index rose 0.73 percent, heading for their highest close in a week.

Defensive stocks led gains with Hindustan Unilever up 3.4 percent and cigarette maker ITC up 0.7 percent.

Among drug makers, Cipla gained 4.5 percent, Dr.Reddy's Laboratories rose 1.7 percent and Lupin advanced 1.3 percent.

Glenmark Pharmaceuticals rose as much as 6.6 percent to a record high of 983.90 rupees ($15.35) after key drug application approvals from the U.S. drug regulator stoked hopes of a revival in its U.S. business.

($1 = 64.0950 rupees)

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)