Indian shares rose on Thursday ahead of May derivative contracts' expiry, with Bharti Airtel Ltd and NTPC Ltd leading gains, as investors awaited appointments for key ministries at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony.
Indian shares have witnessed a rally over Modi's landslide victory in the general elections last week. Modi will be sworn-in for a second term later in the day and is expected to name his new cabinet ministers.
The broader Nifty was up 0.47% at 11,917.50 as of 0500 GMT, while the benchmark Sensex was trading 0.56% higher at 39,722.45.
The rupee rose 0.18% to 69.705 against the dollar on Thursday.
"A stable government is attractive and stocks are outperforming on hopes of new policies," said AK Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital in Mumbai.
"After today's ceremony (ministry announcements), we'll look at budget, tax reforms and based on these markets are positive."
Shares of telecommunications service provider Bharti Airtel and energy conglomerate NTPC Ltd rose nearly 2%.
Shares of IT services provider Tata Consultancy Services Ltd were set to extend gains for the fourth straight day, rising as much as 1.5%. It was among the top three gainers on the Nifty.
Shares of Adani Power Ltd rose 6.3%, its highest in over a month. The conglomerate on Wednesday reported quarterly results and said it would raise about 70 billion rupees ($1 billion).
Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd were down as much as 1.19%, the Delhi-based company is scheduled to post quarterly results later in the day.
Shares of Mahindra and Mahindra fell 1.9% in their worst intraday percentage fall in over a week. On Wednesday, the car maker posted a drop in quarterly profit and said it was making 'conscious efforts' to reduce production in its automotive business.