Mumbai: Indian shares extended gains to 2% on Wednesday afternoon, led by gains in software companies such as Infosys Technologies Higher Asian and European equities also helped the sentiment.

At 1:37pm, the 30-share BSE index was up 1.95% at 16,761.89 points, with 27 components advancing. The 50-share NSE index was up 1.9% at 4,975.50.

Infosys was up 4.3% at Rs2,312.75.

Shares rose more than 1% at noon after a choppy start, led by software firms such as Infosys Technologies on hopes of improving demand and supported by gains elsewhere in Asia.

Software companies gained ground after The Economic Times reported the president of industry body Nasscom expected the industry to grow 4-7% in the current fiscal year and return to growth of more than 10% next year.

At 11:52am, the 30-share BSE Index was up 1.02 % at 16,608.88, with 23 components gaining. The 50-share NSE index was up 1.23 % at 4,939.40.

“I think the market is moving up purely on liquidity as global cues are supportive. But as such, it is fairly priced at current levels,” said Rajen Shah, chief investment officer at Angel Broking.

The benchmark fell 0.35 % on Tuesday, after rising 7.1 % over the previous four sessions.

It has risen more than 70 % this year as foreign funds bought a net $14.5 billion of equities, and some investors have expressed concern about the rapid advance.

Top software firm Tata Consultancy rose 2.2 %, second-ranked Infosys Technologies was up 2.5 and third-ranked Wipro climbed 3.1 %.

Top bank State Bank of India led the losses, as traders locked in gains after the recent rally. It was down 1.1 % after rising 10.7 % in three previous sessions.

Second-ranked ICICI Bank was up 1 % at Rs903.70. On Tuesday, its chief executive said bad loans had peaked and loan quality should improve.

In the broader market, gainers outpaced losers in a ratio of 1.7:1, with 174 million shares changing hands on the Bombay Stock Exchange.