BENGALURU, March 3 (Reuters) - Indian shares ended sharply
higher on Wednesday as heavyweight Reliance Industries jumped on
winning $8 billion worth of airwaves in a spectrum auction,
while retreating U.S. bond yields also aided investor sentiment.
    The NSE Nifty 50 index  .NSEI  ended 2.19% higher at
15,245.60, while the S&P BSE Sensex  .BSESN  closed 2.28% higher
at 51,444.65.
    Indian equities are up nearly 5% so far this week, following
an expansion of the country's COVID-19 vaccination drive and
upbeat domestic economic growth, while easing U.S. bond yields
have lent support.
    Investor mood across the globe was also positive with MSCI's
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan
 .MIAPJ0000PUS  adding 1.7% and the Euro STOXX 600  .STOXX 
rising 0.7%.  MKTS/GLOB 
    In India, Reliance Industries  RELI.NS  surged 4.6% to an
over four-month high, the top boost to the Nifty, as the
conglomerate's telecoms unit picked up 488.35 megahertz (Mhz) of
telecom airwaves in a $10.6-billion spectrum auction.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2L010W 
    Financial stocks rallied, with Nifty's PSU bank  .NIFTYPSU 
and private bank index  .NIFPVTBNK  closing up 3.16% and 2.75%,
respectively.
    The Nifty Metal index  .NIFTYMET  advanced the most among
sectoral indexes, closing up 3.34%, at its highest in three
years. 
    Infosys  INFY.NS  closed up nearly 3%, its highest in more
than four weeks, after a media report said the IT services firm
had won a $500 million deal from Alphabet Inc's  GOOGL.O 
Google.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN2L10BL
    The Nifty Auto index  .NIFTYAUTO  was the only sub-index to
close in the red, slipping 0.66% after a 3.19% gain in the
previous session. 
    Meanwhile, the Indian government late on Tuesday said there
were plenty of COVID-19 vaccines for the country even though it
has sent quantities abroad.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N2L03OY

 (Reporting by Chandini Monnappa in Bengaluru; Editing by
Ramakrishnan M.)
 ((Chandini.M@thomsonreuters.com; +918061822697;))