People walk past the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India, November 4, 2020. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File photo
Indian shares inched higher on Monday, hovering near record highs hit in the previous session, as the downward trend of new coronavirus cases raised hopes of more easing of lockdowns across the country.
The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) rose 0.25% at 15,709.20 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) was up 0.15% at 52,171.70 by 0347 GMT, led by metal stocks and public sector banks.
Both the indexes last week gained more than 1% to notch their third straight week of gains.
The Nifty PSU Bank Index (.NIFTYPSU), which tracks state-run banks, was up 0.85%, and the Nifty Metal Index (.NIFTYMET) gained 1.44%.
The country has continued to see a decline in daily COVID-19 cases, with data from the health ministry over the weekend showing the daily rise in cases stayed below the 200,000 mark for more than a week.
India on Monday reported 100,636 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, while deaths rose by 2,427. read more
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