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BENGALURU  - Indian shares were largely unchanged early on Thursday, as losses in heavyweight financials offset gains in information technology stocks.

The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index was down 0.09% at 15,283.85 by 0356 GMT, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was 0.16% lower at 50,928.31.

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd and Infosys Ltd extended gains to a third straight session, adding nearly 1% each and cushioning losses on the Nifty.

Lenders HDFC Ltd and HDFC Bank Ltd were the top drags to the Nifty 50 index, losing 0.54% and 0.46%, respectively. HDFC Bank was on track for a third straight session of loss.

Investors' sentiment has improved in the recent days due to a steady decline in daily COVID-19 cases in India. Earlier this week, the country reported its lowest daily rise of cases in more than a month.

On Thursday, India's tally of COVID-19 cases rose by 211,298 over the last 24 hours, while deaths rose by 3,847.

Among other shares, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, among the top boosts to the Nifty 50, rose as much as 3.5% after it reported March-quarter profit of 119.4 billion rupees, compared with loss of 13.61 billion rupees a year ago.

Nifty components Eicher Motors Ltd and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd are set to report their March-quarter earnings later in the day.

In the broader Asian market, shares retreated from two-week highs and China started on the backfoot, on fears central banks were closer to considering winding back their emergency stimulus while the dollar held at a one-week top. [MKTS/GLOB]