A general view of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), after Sensex surpassed the 50,000 level for the first time, in Mumbai, India, January 21, 2021. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

BENGALURU, July 20 (Reuters) – Indian shares ended at a more than six-week high on Wednesday, led by strong gains in technology firms and as oil producers climbed after the government slashed windfall taxes on local crude sales and fuel exports.

The NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) ended 1.1% higher at 16,520.85, while the S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) rose 1.15% to 55,397.53, with both indexes posting their fourth straight session of gains.

The mood was also upbeat in broader markets as the expected resumption of Russian gas supply to Europe allayed fears of a recession.

In Mumbai, shares of oil producers jumped after India cut a windfall tax on oil producers and refiners and exempted gasoline from an export levy, less than a month after it imposed the two charges. read more

“The decline in windfall tax would mean better and more sustainable margins for explorers and refiners … This move would also help get back investor confidence in these stocks,” said Rohit Khatri, assistant vice president of fundamental research at Religare Broking.

Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) jumped 2.7%, while Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC.NS), Vedanta Ltd (VDAN.NS) and Oil India Ltd gained between 3.6% and 6.1%.

The Nifty energy index (.NIFTYENR) gained 0.9%, while the beaten-down Nifty IT index (.NIFTYIT) surged 2.9%. The IT index has declined about 27% so far this year as investors dumped growth stocks in favour of value stocks due to the high interest-rate environment.

Nifty 50 components Wipro (WIPR.NS) and IndusInd Bank (INBK.NS) ended higher ahead of their June-quarter earnings reports.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee fell to a record closing low of 79.99 against the dollar.

Reporting by Chris Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel

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