Indian shares close higher -

BENGALURU, March 16 (Reuters): Gains in bank and auto stocks helped Indian shares close higher on Wednesday, with investors keeping a watch on Ukraine-Russia peace talks and the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

At the closing bell, the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was up 1.87pc at 16,975.35, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) ended 1.86pc higher at 56,816.65 points.

Both indexes opened higher after losing more than 1pc in the previous session and kept the momentum through the day to close at their highest levels in three weeks.

The U.S. Federal Reserve will close the door on its ultra-easy pandemic-era monetary policy and step up the fight against stubbornly high inflation with the first in what is likely to be a series of interest rate hikes this year.