Indian shares extended their record gains to a second session on Tuesday, as technology and software exporters continued to rally.
Technology shares advanced for a second day after India's market regulator late Friday banned holders of offshore derivatives tied to the nation's equities from taking unhedged exposure.
At 0623 GMT, S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.34 percent to 31,824 while the broader NSE Nifty gained 0.41 percent to 9,810.
Sentiment across Asia was positive as investors awaited testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for clues on when the central bank would tighten U.S. monetary policy.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.6 percent, with sentiment underpinned by technology-led gains on Wall Street.
Chair Janet Yellen will submit Federal Reserve's semi-annual Monetary Policy Report to Congress on Wednesday.
Back home, earnings season is about to kick-start with Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys, country's two biggest software exporters, scheduled to report on July 13 and 14 followed by UltraTech Cement on July 18 and Bajaj Auto on July 20.
Top gainers included Tata Motors, Infosys, Mahindra and Mahindra, NTPC and Tata Consultancy Services with gains of about 1.4 percent to 3 percent.
Videocon Industries shares hit 5 percent upper circuit for an 11th consecutive session.
Sugar stocks traded higher. Shree Renuka Sugars rose 1.2 percent, Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar and Dalmia Bharat Sugar advanced 0.8 percent each, Andhra Sugars jumped 2.5 percent while Dhampur Sugar Mills rose 2 percent.
Among the laggards, drugmakers such as Cipla, Dr. Reddy's Labs amd Apollo Hospitals fell between 1 percent to 1.5 percent.
Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 3 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.
