Sensex rises; HDFC Bank, IT stocks lead

By Krishna V Kurup

(Reuters) - Indian shares rose on Tuesday led by index heavyweights such as HDFC Bank Ltd and Reliance Industries Ltd, with investor focus now on corporate earnings, starting with Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) later in the day.

Broader Asian shares were up for a third day as hopes of upbeat corporate earnings drove Wall Street higher.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was nearly unchanged.

The broader NSE index was up 0.64 percent at 10,921.85 as of 0606 GMT, while the benchmark BSE index rose 0.64 percent to 36,164.73.

"Most of the gains can be attributed to markets doing well globally. There may be some impact from weakening of the dollar as that may lead to some money coming back to emerging markets," Neeraj Dewan, Director at Quantum Securities said, adding that the market is expecting a good earnings season this quarter.

"Crude concerns, however, lingers on."

Oil prices rose on Tuesday escalating concerns about potential supply shortages, with Brent crude leading the way as oil workers in Norway are set to strike later in the day after failed wage talks. That potentially adds to disruptions in other oil producing regions amid tensions in the Middle East.

Private-sector lender HDFC Bank gained 0.9 percent while conglomerate Reliance Industries was up 2.4 percent.

IT stocks also climbed, with Infosys Ltd rising 1 percent, while shares of HCL Technologies Ltd rose as much as 3.5 percent after the software services exporter said it will consider a buyback of its shares on Thursday.

TCS shares were 0.4 percent higher, ahead of its results.

Shares of Idea Cellular Ltd climbed on reports that Department of Telecommunications gave conditional nod to merge Vodafone's India business with Idea.

(Reporting by Krishna V Kurup in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)