Sensex rises buoyed by financial stocks

REUTERS - Indian shares rose on Thursday, after ending lower the previous day, with financial stocks such as ICICI Bank contributing most of the gains, while advances in Asian markets underpinned investor sentiment.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 percent, while Japan's Nikkei extended gains to 1 percent.

The final U.S. presidential debate between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump also weighed on market sentiment, as Trump suggested that he might reject the outcome of the Nov. 8 presidential election if he loses, a possibility Clinton called "horrifying."

Back home, investors await further quarterly results, with Reliance Industries Ltd slated to report later in the day.

"After volatile trading in the previous session, we're holding ground today. With earnings underway, more results unfolding would be supportive of the market," said Gaurang Shah, vice president, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

"In terms of triggers, the final U.S. presidential debate is definitely a key," Shah added.

The broader NSE Nifty was up 0.65 percent at 8,715.45 as of 0549 GMT, after falling as much as 0.47 percent on Wednesday.

The benchmark BSE Sensex rose 0.71 percent to 28,182.01, after declining as much as 0.44 percent in the previous session.

Financial stocks recovered from Wednesday's losses with almost all constituents trading in the green on the Nifty Bank Index and the Nifty Financial Services Index, which also includes non-banking financial companies.

ICICI Bank Ltd was up nearly 5 percent and Axis Bank rose 1.5 percent.

(Reporting by Samantha Kareen Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Amrutha Gayathri)