India shares edged higher on Thursday, tracking gains in other Asian equities following an optimistic appraisal of economic conditions by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The Fed held policy steady as expected on Wednesday and underscored solid U.S. economic growth as well as a strengthening labor market, while downplaying the impact of recent hurricanes.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.2 percent, climbing to its highest levels since November 2007.
Investors are now focused on the impending appointment of the Federal Reserve chair, with speculation rife that Fed governor Jerome Powell is the favoured suitor
At 0600 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.13 percent at 33,644 while the broader NSE Nifty added 0.06 percent to 10,446.
Among the top Sensex gainers, Sun Pharma advanced 3 percent, Lupin gained 2.9 percent, Dr. Reddy's rose 2.8 percent, ICICI Bank was up 2 percent while Cipla added 1.8 percent.
Solar Industries India jumped 4.5 percent after the company said it got order worth Rs1,143.63 crore for supply of bulk explosives to the arm of Coal India.
Divi's Laboratories surged 20 percent after the U.S. drug regulator said it will lift an import alert on its Visakhapatnam unit.
But NTPC lost 1.3 percent after 18 people were killed and up to 100 injured in an boiler blast in state-run NTPC's Unchahar power plant in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh.
Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.
