India's Nifty index edged higher on Thursday, led by auto makers such as Mahindra and Mahindra but simmering geopolitical tensions kept many investors on edge.
Asian stock markets rose, tracking a recovery in global equities as Wall Street gained overnight after U.S. lawmakers unexpectedly agreed to raise the government debt limit.
U.S. President Donald Trump forged a surprising deal with Democrats in Congress on Wednesday to extend the U.S. debt limit and provide government funding until Dec. 15, in a rare bipartisan accord, Reuters reported.
An index of stocks across Asia, excluding Japan, gained 0.5 percent.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended unchanged at 31,662 while the broader NSE Nifty rose 0.19 percent at 9,934.
Among the top index gainers, Bajaj Auto advanced 1.5 percent, Mahindra and Mahindra rose 1.9 percent, Larsen and Toubro gained 0.9 percent while Sun Pharma was up 0.8 percent.
The S&P BSE Healthcare Index added 0.7 percent while the S&P BSE Auto index was up 0.9 percent.
Eicher Motors added 2.2 percent on reports that the maker of Royal Enfield motorbikes is looking to bid for Italian bike-maker Ducati.
NBCC India rose 0.5 percent after the company said it got orders worth Rs 464 crore from the health and family welfare ministry.
Among the laggards, Equitas Holdings dropped 3.5 percent after a block deal.
Tata Motors-DVR declined declined 1 percent. The stock fell for fourth consecutive sessions and lost nearly 6.5 percent in this period.
Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.
