Sensex rises on bargain hunting

By Darshana Sankararaman

(Reuters) - Indian shares rose on Thursday as investors picked beaten down counters, including technology stocks that lost ground on disappointing quarterly results from software services exporters Infosys Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.

The Nifty has fallen about 1.7 percent since it hit a record high on April 5.

However, an official forecast of an average monsoon in 2017 and expectations of positive quarterly results are expected to push markets higher in the near-term, said analysts.

"An extended period of consolidation over the last one week has rendered stocks slightly cheaper compared to previous month levels. That may have attracted some bargain hunting," said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Infosys Ltd, which lost about 5 percent on a lower-than-expected revenue guidance, was up 0.7 percent, while Tech Mahindra Ltd rose 1 percent, rebounding from five days of declines.

"Markets are now able to look beyond IT stocks, which have been a slight disappointment," he said.

The broader Nifty was up 0.35 percent at 9,135.15 by 0645 GMT, after dropping for five straight sessions.

The benchmark BSE Sensex was 0.30 percent higher at 29,424.41.

State-run lenders too recovered from recent falls, with the Nifty PSU bank index gaining as much as 1.5 percent.

It fell 1.7 percent in the previous session.

Private sector lender Yes Bank Ltd lost as much as 5.3 percent after it reported a 66 percent surge in provisions for bad loans. ICICI Bank Ltd and Axis Bank Ltd were down about 2 percent each.

(Reporting By Darshana Sankararaman in Bengaluru; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)