Indian shares rose on Wednesday after four consecutive sessions of falls as investors saw recent losses as overdone, even though sentiment was broadly cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision and the Brexit referendum.

 

The Fed is expected to keep interest rates unchanged, and investors await Chair Janet Yellen's news conference later in the day. The central bank will also issue its updated economic projections.

 

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the merger of five associate banks — State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Patiala, State Bank of Mysore and State Bank of Hyderabad as well as Bharatiya Mahila Bank with State Bank of India.

 

Last month, SBI cleared proposal for merger of subsidiary banks and Bharatiya Mahila Bank.

 

Meanwhile, Britain is due to hold a referendum next week on whether to exit the European Union.

 

Still, analysts said shares had now found some support after the Nifty fell 2 percent in the previous four sessions.

 

Investors are also hopeful parliament will approve a revamped goods and services tax that would supplant multiple federal and state levies. While support has increased among states, it is yet to achieve a breakthrough.

 

The Nifty was up 0.47 percent at 8,147.20 as of 0820 GMT, while the Sensex was 0.55 percent higher at 26,540.26.

 

Some of the blue chips that were recently hit recovered on Wednesday. Larsen & Toubro gained 2.26 percent after declining 3.35 percent over the previous four sessions.

 

Among other gainers, State Bank of India and some of its associate banks rose after CNBC-TV18, citing government sources, reported that the cabinet might approve the merger of five associate banks with the country's biggest lender.

 

Jet Airways, InterGlobe Aviation and SpiceJet rose after TV channels quoted sources as saying that the cabinet had cleared the national civil aviation policy.