Indian shares recovered from early losses to trade slightly higher on Friday, with gains in the financial and consumer sectors eclipsing losses in large-cap IT stocks.
The broader Nifty, which fell as much as 0.5 per cent in early trade, was up 0.16 per cent at 10,615.8 as of 0545 GMT. The benchmark Sensex was 0.12 per cent higher at 35,280.59.
The indexes were set to finish the trading week, truncated due to local holidays, about half a per cent higher.
In broader Asia, stocks pulled back from one-month high as the U.S. Federal Reserve appeared poised to deliver another interest rate hike next month.
"We don't have much of a positivity from Asia...volatility is also slightly up, being the last working day of the week," said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
Indian shares appeared to shrug off weak leads from its neighbours, led by Asian Paints Ltd's stock that rose as much as 4.6 per cent to a six-week high. The stock was also the top percentage gainer and contributor to the NSE index.
Private-sector lender Axis Bank Ltd climbed 2.4 per cent, while smaller rival Yes Bank Ltd rose as much as 4.4 per cent in its ninth straight session of gains.
Auto stocks also saw good buying interest. Shares of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd rose 2.6 per cent, while those of Tata Motors Ltd climbed 3 per cent to a one-month high.
Industrial gases company Linde India Ltd surged as much as 19 per cent after its biggest shareholder said it intended to buy the rest of the company.
Telecom equipment manufacturer ITI Ltd jumped 9.4 per cent after the Indian government said it will continue to force three state-owned telecom companies to buy 30 per cent of their equipment orders from ITI.
The pharmaceutical sector got a boost from a weaker rupee that hit a day's low of 72.8225 against the dollar.
The Nifty Pharma index rose as much as 1.5 per cent, lifted by a 3.4 per cent jump in Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
However, the weak rupee failed to cheer large-cap IT stocks, as shares of Infosys Ltd and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd fell 2.4 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel Ltd was the biggest percentage loser, with shares dropping as much as 5.7 per cent after rating agency Moody's on Thursday placed the company's credit rating on review for a downgrade citing low levels of profitability and expectations of weak cash flow.