Indian shares edged higher to post a second session of gains on Wednesday, led by Oil and Natural Gas Corp, after crude oil rallied to 2016 highs, but the gains were limited ahead of US and Japanese central bank policy decisions.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 56.82 points or 0.22 per cent at 26,064.12 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 17.25 points or 0.22 per cent at 7,979.70.

Among BSE sectoral indices, oil & gas index gained the most by 1.23 per cent, followed by infrastructure 1.12 per cent, FMCG 1.02 per cent and TECk 0.72 per cent. On the other hand, banking index was down 0.87 per cent, power 0.5 per cent, realty 0.36 per cent and capital goods 0.24 per cent.

Top five Sensex gainers were Adani Ports (+5.09%), Bharti Airtel (+3.54%), ONGC (+3.41%), GAIL (+2.64%) and M&M (+2.2%), while the major losers were ICICI Bank (-3.66%), Axis Bank (-3.11%), State Bank of India (-2.17%), BHEL (-0.89%) and Tata Steel (-0.5%).

Axis Bank stock plunged after the country’s third-biggest private sector lender by assets had on Tuesday posted an unexpected fall in net profit and said it expected bad loans to rise in the current financial year.

Indian banks’ bad loans have surged in the past six months after an asset quality review ordered by the central bank as part of a clean-up exercise.

Next in cue are March-quarter earnings from ICICI Bank on April 29, followed by Kotak Mahindra Bank and State Bank of India on May 11 and May 27, respectively.

NHPC fell 6.5 per cent after the government had on Tuesday announced an 11.36 percent stake sale in the company to raise up to Rs 2,800 crore.

Fed policy decision

The US Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady later in the day when its meeting ends. The Bank of Japan makes its policy decision on Thursday amid some speculation it could ramp up its already extensive monetary stimulus scheme.

Regional markets were also cautious, with Asian stocks mostly trading lower on Wednesday. Sentiment at home was also muted ahead of the expiry of derivative contracts on Thursday.

“Market will take its cues from the Fed meeting outcome. If Fed turns even a bit hawkish than that could drive people to take profits off the table,” said AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital.

“Also a few bank results have disappointed, and now it'll be followed by other private and PSU (public sector) banks which may surprise the market on the negative side.”

A report by SMC Global said: "Asian stocks fell as suppliers to Apple Inc. declined and earnings from Canon Inc. disappointed investors, while fund managers awaited policy decisions from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan. US stocks closed mixed Tuesday as caution prevailed ahead of a barrage of tech earnings and an updated policy statement from the Federal Reserve. US consumer confidence index dropped to 94.2 in April from a revised 96.1 in March. Economists had expected the index to edge down to 96.0 from the 96.2 originally reported for the previous month."

Global markets

European stocks slipped on Wednesday, weighed down by some weak corporate earnings, while the Greek market underperformed after euro zone officials delayed a meeting on the country’s bailout.

Greece’s benchmark ATG equity index fell 4 per cent, making it the worst-performing market in the region.

Asian stocks were subdued on Wednesday, as investors stayed cautious ahead of US and Japanese central bank policy decisions, while crude oil prices hovered near 2016 highs.

Japan's Nikkei lost 0.6 per cent as Japan-based suppliers of iPhone parts fell after Apple Inc reported its first-ever decline in iPhone sales and its first revenue drop in over a decade overnight.

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