MUMBAI--Indian shares closed slightly higher Thursday, helped by short-covering in select front-line index stocks such as HDFC Bank and software company Infosys.
The Bombay Stock Exchange's S&P BSE Sensex index ended 0.2% higher at 21074.59 points, after trading in a narrow range of between 21013.14 and 21135.85 for the session. The National Stock Exchange's 50-share Nifty closed up 0.2% at 6278.90 points.
"The market traded in a tight range despite the expiry of the monthly derivatives contracts. Investor participation was subdued on account of year end holidays," said Alex Mathews, head of research at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services Ltd.
Volume on the BSE cash market stood at 19.42 billion rupees, lower than Tuesday's 20.52 billion rupees.
Indian stock and currency markets were closed Wednesday for Christmas holiday.
Dealers expect local equities to trade range-bound rest of the year with thin volumes as most investors are out for year-end holidays.
Corporate earnings for the October to December period, starting from the second-week of January could dictate the forward direction of the markets, they said.
Nine of the Bombay Stock Exchange's 12 sector indices ended higher.
HDFC Bank--the biggest lender by market value--gained 1.8% to 669.60 rupees, while Infosys--which is likely the first large company to detail third-quarter results in January--closed up 0.8% at 3,515.55 rupees.
Reliance Industries--the second largest firm by market value--declined 0.9% to 887.70 rupees on profit-taking. Shares of the energy-focused company had jumped about 7% in the previous five sessions.
The rupee was trading lower against the U.S. dollar. In late-session spot market trading, a dollar was buying 62.05 rupees compared with 61.79 rupees at Tuesday' close.
