Sensex, Nifty tick up in lacklustre trade; blue chips lead

By Shivam Srivastava

REUTERS - Indian shares edged up in lacklustre trading on Thursday, driven by market heavyweights Tata Motors Ltd and Reliance Industries Ltd, while investors waited for more clarity in an uncertain global scenario.

Investors are waiting for a trigger in an environment that has many variables, said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice-president of research at SMC Global Securities, referring to the corporate results season, the federal budget, and clarity on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's policies.

The Nifty was up 0.22 percent at8,435.15 as of 0702 GMT, while the Sensex was 0.27 percent higher at 27,328.45.

Tata Motors was up 2.23 percent, while Reliance Industries gained 1 percent. Bharat Petroleum Corp rose 2.28 percent, while ITC Ltd was up 0.88 percent.

Oil rose from one-week lows touched the session before, with investors turning their attention to upcoming government data on U.S. inventories.

Financial stocks were the top losers with the Nifty Bank index declining as much as 0.6 percent after hitting a two-month high on Wednesday.

"Some of the financial stocks have always traded at a premium and any kind of bad news or even an expectation of negative news leads to apprehension and which is why we can see a bit of profit-taking and also why these stocks are oscillating within a range," said Jain.

Axis Bank was the top loser, shedding as much as 1.88 percent, ahead of its quarterly results later in the day.

(Reporting by Shivam Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)