11:55 am: Sensex up 95 points

Strong Asian sentiment and lower global oil prices bolster blue-chips such as RIL and Infosys Technologies.

Indian shares rose nearly one per cent on Tuesday as strong Asian sentiment and lower global oil prices bolstered blue-chips such as Reliance Industries and Infosys Technologies.

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At 11:55 am (0525 GMT), the 30-issue benchmark BSE index was up 0.89 per cent at 11,721.86 points, a three-month high.

Nearly all the shares in the benchmark were in positive territory. In the broader section, gainers beat losers three-to-one on moderate volume of 38 million shares.

SP Tulsian, an independent market analyst, said most participants had covered their positions ahead of the monthly settlement of derivatives on Thursday, signalling a possible rally when the new contracts kick off.

"Good rollovers have happened in the past two days. I see the index at 11,800-plus points on the day of futures expiry," he said.

The benchmark index is nearly 8 per cent away from its record peak hit in May.

Shares in bellwether Infosys led the pack with a 1.3 per cent gain to 1,789.70 rupees, while Reliance Industries was up 0.5 per cent at 1,127.75 rupees.

The 50-issue Nifty was up 0.75 percent at 3,426.40. Shares in state-run refiners such as Indian Oil Corp Ltd gained 2 percent to 481 rupees after US crude fell to $70.50 a barrel as a tropical storm was forecast to bypass US Gulf of Mexico oil facilities. India imports two-thirds of its oil.

Elsewhere, Karachi's 100-share index edged 0.4 per cent higher at 9,917.27 points while Colombo's All-Share index gained 0.2 per cent to 2,159.79.