INDIA STOCKS-Indian stocks gain as U.S. trade talks boost sentiment

By Vivek Kumar M and Bharath Rajeswaran

July 3 (Reuters) - Indian shares edged higher on Thursday, mirroring gains in broader Asia after a U.S.–Vietnam trade deal and as investors awaited signs of progress on a potential pact between Washington and New Delhi.

The Nifty 50 .NSEI rose 0.4% to 25,555.20 points and the BSE Sensex .BSESN added 0.41% to 83,752.36 as of 10:30 a.m. IST.

Asian shares rose, with MSCI's Asia ex-Japan index .MIAPJ0000PUS up 0.25%, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 20% tariff on Vietnamese exports under a new deal, boosting expectations of further trade breakthroughs.

U.S. and Indian trade negotiators were pushing on Wednesday to try to land a tariff-reducing deal, but some disagreements remained unresolved, Reuters reported citing sources.

"Sentiment has turned positive after Trump announced an agreement with Vietnam as it signalled an eagerness to strike further trade deals," said Mandar Bhojane, research analyst at Choice Broking.

However, analysts flagged the likelihood of bouts of profit booking in the near future.

Twelve of the 13 major sectoral indexes gained. The auto index .NIFTYAUTO led with a 1.1% rise, while small- and mid-cap indexes .NIFSMCP100 and .NIFMDCP100 rose 0.5% each.

Heavyweights HDFC Bank HDBK.NS and ICICI Bank ICBK.NS rose 0.7% and 1%, respectively.

HDFC Bank's unit and the newly-listed HDB Financial HDBF.NS jumped 4% on Thursday after a 13.6% jump in the debut session on Wednesday.

State-run banks .NIFTYPSU slipped 0.4%, with Punjab National Bank PNBK.NS falling 2.5% after reporting slower loan growth in its June-quarter update.

Among other stocks, D-mart operator Avenue Supermarts AVEU.NS lost 3.7% after reporting a moderation in its sales growth in its quarterly business update.

Nykaa FSNE.NS slid 4.3%. The Banga family, one of the early investors in FSNE, planned to sell 2% stake via block deal at 5.5% discount to Wednesday's closing price, as per multiple news reports.