Benchmark indices edged higher on Wednesday, boosted by consumer stocks, as plunge in oil prices provided some relief to the country that saw unrelenting inflation in June.
Annual consumer inflation remained painfully above the 7 per cent mark, beyond the central bank's tolerance band for a sixth month in a row, official data showed on Tuesday, raising prospects of more rate hikes by central bank next month.
The NSE Nifty 50 was up 0.5 per cent at 16,133, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.53 per cent to 54,154.32 in early trade.
The Nifty fast moving consumer index rose 0.8 per cent, while the public sector bank index gained 1.1 per cent.
Global benchmark Brent crude tumbled $7 on Tuesday to settle below $100 a barrel for the first time in three months.
India, world's third largest importer of oil benefits from fall in crude prices as it brings down imported inflation in the country.
Now market focus is on the US consumer price index due later in the day, to gauge the path of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.
Shares of HCL Technologies fell 2.3 per cent after the IT services provider missed quarterly profit estimates.