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BENGALURU  -Indian shares recovered early losses to end higher on Monday, boosted by gains in Reliance, Kotak Mahindra Bank and technology stocks, while world markets were steady on hopes the new coronavirus variant would likely be mild.

Earlier in the day, the benchmark indexes fell more than 1% to hit three-month lows.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index ended 0.16% higher at 17,053.95, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.27% to 57,260.58.

Kotak Mahindra Bank led gains in the Nifty, ending up 2.82%. The lender said the Reserve Bank of India had allowed state-run insurance giant Life Insurance Corporation of India to increase its stake in the bank to up to 9.99% from 4.96% as of Sept. 30.

Heavyweight Reliance Industries closed 1.2% higher, after rising as much as 3.6%. Its telecom business, Jio, said https://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachLive/0834379b-a9e2-4b91-bed5-e2b73cc7f507.pdf on Sunday it would raise prepaid tariffs by 21%, matching price increases by rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd.

Separately, the Economic Times newspaper reported the conglomerate was considering an offer to buy into British telecom firm BT Group Plc, which was later denied by the company. "We categorically deny any intent" to bid for BT, Reliance said.

Among the major sub-indexes, the Nifty IT index was the only gainer, rising 0.76%, with HCL Technologies gaining the most at 2.08%.

Pharma, energy and public sector banks, were among the laggards, falling between 1.07% and 2.04%.

Analysts at Motilal Oswal Financial Services (MOFSL) said in a note the uncertainty around the new variant will likely mar sentiment in travel, tourism, hospitality, and retail, while pharma, IT and consumer stocks will likely make a comeback until sentiments improve.

Investors await India's economic growth data for the July-September period due at 1200 GMT on Tuesday.