Indian shares drift higher; L&T climbs

Indian shares gained on Friday, tracking gains in other Asian equities following solid Chinese trade data but simmering geopolitical tensions kept many investors on edge.

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Traders walks infront of an electronic board in Mumbai, India. Reuters

Indian shares gained on Friday, tracking gains in other Asian equities following solid Chinese trade data but simmering geopolitical tensions kept many investors on edge.

Asian shares gained, with the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan adding 0.5 percent, and was set for a 0.2 percent gain for the week.

China's August exports rose 5.5 percent from a year earlier, slightly missing analysts' forecast of a 6.0 percent increase, while imports grew a robust 13.3 percent, beating expectations of 10 percent growth, Reuters reported.

U.S. dollar was under pressure after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi's remarks that policymakers would decide on tapering this autumn.

At 0640 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.13 percent at 31,702 while the broader NSE Nifty rose 0.15 percent at 9,944.

Among the top index gainers, Larsen and Toubro advanced 4 percent, Bharti Airtel rose 1.6 percent, Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 1.1 percent while Tata Steel gained 1 percent.

The S&P BSE Metal Index added 1 percent while the S&P BSE Telecom index was up 0.8 percent.

Biocon shares jumped 5 percent after the bio-pharmaceutical company said its Malaysian arm Biocon Sdn Bhd has received compliance certificate from the Health Products Regulatory Authority of Ireland for its insulin manufacturing facility.

CCL Products India climbed 11 percent after the Reserve Bank of India approved foreign institutional investors to hold up to 40 percent stake in the in the company, up from 24 percent earlier.

Punj Lloyd gained 5.5 percent after it got a Rs 870 crore order for canal work in Maharashtra.

Among the laggards, Dr Reddy's Laboratories lost 5 percent after the drugmaker that its Duvvada plant got six major observation from German drug regulator.

Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.

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