BENGALURU, July 21 Reuters Indian shares closed near a sevenweek high on Thursday, led by gains in metals and auto stocks, while strong results from IndusInd Bank lifted private lenders.

The NSE Nifty 50 index and the SP BSE Sensex rose 0.51 each to close at 16,605.25 and 55,681.95, respectively. Both the indexes closed at their highest since early June.

The return of foreign investors to domestic equity markets in the last few sessions, coupled with receding commodity prices and hopes the U.S. Fed may not go for aggressive rate hikes in its next meeting have somewhat tempered fears, said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research retail, Kotak Securities.

The Nifty 50 index has risen about 5 so far this month. The Bank Nifty index and the Nifty Auto index are up 8 and 7.4, respectively.

The chip crisis is easing and raw material costs have come down for automobile companies, and they have passed on the hikes to customers. The market is expecting better margins, said AK Prabhakar, head of research, IDBI Capital.

IndusInd Bank jumped 7.8 after it reported a surge in firstquarter net profit on Wednesday on the back of a drop in provisions and growth in net interest income.

Wipro cut early losses to trade up 0.5 on expectations of strong IT services revenue growth in the second quarter after its Junequarter profit fell about 21. 

Tata Communications surged 10 after the company posted a jump in quarterly profit.

India39;s central bank is prepared to sell a sixth of…