A rise in beaten-down banking stocks helped Indian shares end higher on Wednesday after opening in the red. The sentiment was also upbeat as markets awaited stimulus measures to support the coronavirus-hit economy, but losses in oil refiners and index heavyweight ITC capped gains.

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The Sensex ended 232 points higher at 31,686, while Nifty50 rose 65 points to end at 9,271.

The Nifty bank index, which had fallen 10 percent over the last two sessions, climbed over 2 percent. Meanwhile, the Nifty Financial Services index also rose around 2.5 percent.

Among other sectors, Nifty Auto rose 2 percent and Nifty Pharma was up 0.5 percent. However, Nifty FMCG lost 1.8 percent and the Nifty PSU Bank index also ended in the red.

Bajaj Finance, M&M, GAIL, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank were the top gainers on the Nifty50 index, while Bharti Infratel, ITC, Coal India, IOC, and HUL led the losses

Shares in consumer goods conglomerate ITC fell 5 percent on reports that India’s government was planning to sell its stakes in the two companies.

Globally, Asian shares struggled and the yen gained, with markets in China faltering on their return from a long holiday as investors fretted over Sino-US. tensions.