India shares extended record gains to a second session on Thursday on news reports that the government is mulling 100 percent foreign direct investment in the banking sector.
Sentiment also improved after India on Wednesday said it will cut planned additional borrowing for the current fiscal year to 200 billion rupees from 500 billion rupees.
The Indian rupee was trading marginally higher against the U.S. dollar, tracking positive equities.
At 0610 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex added 0.94 percent at 35,409 while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 0.58 percent to 10,850.
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Among the top Sensex gainers, Yes Bank rose 2.7 percent, HDFC Bank gained 2.6 percent, IndusInd Bank added 2.5 percent while ITC was up 2.4 percent.
Mindtree jumped 8 percent after the company posted a 37.2 percent rise in consolidated net profit in the December quarter.
Adani Transmission climbed 4 percent after the company posted eight-fold rise in its net profit in the quarter through December 2017.
Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.
Meanwhile, Asian shares hit record highs as a rally by Wall Street lifted global risk appetite.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2 percent, building on the previous day's gains to make a fresh peak., Reuters data showed.
Stocks in the U.S. closed higher overnight with the Dow ending above 26,000 for the first time as investors' expectations for higher earnings boosted stocks.
