Sensex rises as markets assess Clinton-Trump debate

(Reuters) - Indian shares rose on Tuesday, recovering from two sessions of falls and tracking gains in Asian markets as investors awarded the first U.S. presidential debate to Democrat Hillary Clinton over Republican Donald Trump.

In a sign that investors saw Clinton as the winner, Asian shares recouped early losses, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising 0.60 percent.

Opinion polls have shown the two candidates in a very tight race, with the latest Reuters/Ipsos polling showing Clinton ahead by 4 percentage points, with 41 percent of likely voters.

"With the way in which the first round of debate took place and the way Hillary Clinton has taken the lead, it appears that America wants to have a progressive government in the form of Clinton, and I think the market has reacted to it," said Deven Choksey, managing director at KR Choksey Securities.

The broader NSE Nifty was up 0.30 percent at 8,748.75 by 0607 GMT, while the benchmark BSE index was 0.26 percent higher at 28,366.69.

Both indexes fell over 1.60 percent each in the previous two sessions.

The Nifty IT index rose as much as 0.86 percent, having fallen about 1.21 percent in the previous three sessions.

Technology stocks were among the gainers, led by Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Infosys Ltd, and Tech Mahindra Ltd.

IRB Infrastructure Developers Ltd gained 3.70 percent after the company on Monday said it won a project from National Highways Authority of India to build highways in Rajasthan and Gujarat

Among the losers, telecom companies Bharti Airtel Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd fell 1.76 percent and 1.43 percent, respectively.

(Reporting by Darshana Sankararaman in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)