BENGALURU, Oct 19 (Reuters) – Indian shares edged up on Wednesday, helped by a drop in oil prices and tracking gains in other Asian equities following the overnight rally in Wall Street on strong corporate reports.

The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was 0.38% higher at 17,553.90 as of 0347 GMT, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) climbed 0.42% to 59,210.96. Both indexes logged their third straight session of gains on Tuesday and are at three-week highs.

Oil prices settled lower on Tuesday on fears of higher U.S. supply combined with an economic slowdown and lower Chinese fuel demand. Crude prices were higher in early Asian trade.

India, the world’s third-biggest importer and consumer of oil, benefits from a fall in crude prices as it brings down imported inflation.

Among stocks, Network18 Media & Investments (NEFI.NS) was down 6.1% after it reported a loss for the second quarter on Tuesday, as advertisers spent less.

Nifty 50 components Nestle India Ltd (NEST.NS) and Ultratech Cement Ltd (ULTC.NS) were up 0.2% and 0.8%, respectively, ahead of their quarterly earnings results later in the day.

Helping with the sentiment, inflow of funds from domestic investors in equities was strong in the previous session even as foreign institutional investors sold shares.

Foreign institutional investors sold a net of 1.53 billion Indian rupees ($18.6 million) worth of equities on Tuesday, while domestic investors bought 20.85 billion rupees worth of shares, as per provisional data available with the National Stock Exchange.

In broader Asia, equities were mostly higher on Wednesday, with U.S. corporate earnings aiding sentiment, while traders awaited British inflation readings later in the day.

The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was up 0.2%, but further gains were capped by slight falls in Chinese shares.

($1 = 82.2910 Indian rupees)

Reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman

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