By Krishna V Kurup
(Reuters) - Indian shares snapped a two-day losing streak on Wednesday, in line with stronger Asia, as investors looked past the latest escalation in the U.S.-China trade spat, while the rupee recovering some lost ground against the dollar also boosted sentiment.
Asian shares gained across the board as the initial 10 percent U.S. tariff on Chinese products was seen by some market participants as less severe than expected. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1 percent.
The rupee strengthened 0.7 percent to 72.5350 per dollar on Wednesday, after hitting an all-time low of 72.99 in the previous session.
Oil prices were steady as concerns that producers will not be able to respond to a shortfall in supply once U.S. sanctions on Iran are enacted outweighed a gain in stockpiles in the United States.
The broader Nifty was up 0.37 percent at 11,320.30 as of 0611 GMT, while the benchmark Sensex rose 0.33 percent to 37,414.32.
Rising global markets and steady crude oil prices helped the Indian rupee to recover, in turn boosting market sentiment, said Neeraj Dewan, Director at Quantum Securities.
"If there is no further domestic news flow and globally things are settling, we may see some recovery in the market."
Metal stocks such as Tata Steel Ltd rose after Reuters reported that the steel ministry has proposed increasing the effective import duty on some steel products.
Tata Steel was the top percentage gainer, rising 2.8 percent. Jindal Steel and Power Ltd rose 3.1 percent.
Shares of sugar companies rose after Reuters reported that the government is likely to consider a proposal to get mills to export 5 million tonnes of sugar by incentivising overseas sales in the 2018/19 season.
Dhampur Sugar Mills Ltd gained as much as 7 percent, while Uttam Sugar Mills Ltd rose as much as 7.1 percent.
Meanwhile, asset management companies fell after market regulator on Tuesday cut total expense ratio for mutual funds. Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd and HDFC Asset Management Co Ltd hit record lows, declining as much as 10.3 percent and 9.1 percent, respectively.
(Reporting by Krishna V Kurup in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
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