BENGALURU - Indian shares opened marginally higher on Thursday, buoyed by expectations of strong performance from consumer goods major Hindustan Unilever, and on gains in global markets mainly on positive corporate earnings.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.84% to 15764.40 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.86% to 52,648.88. The indexes have fallen nearly 2% as of Tuesday, their last closing.

Analysts at ICICI Direct expect the consumer goods giant to post a 21% rise in year-over-year revenue on Thursday.

Investors are also eyeing quarterly results from Bajaj Auto and Ultratech Cement, as well as Zomato IPO's share allotment later in the day.

Banks, metals and consumer goods shares helped push up the indexes in early trade. The Nifty banks index gained 1.08% after two days of losses, metals were up 1.6% and Nifty FMCG was up 0.81%

Asian stocks shrugged off virus worries to rally on Thursday, while bonds nursed losses and oil held onto sharp gains as investors looked ahead to the European Central Bank for reassurance that policy support will continue for some time.

Wall Street extended gains on Wednesday fuelled by positive corporate earnings from major companies.

(Reporting by Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)