INDIA STOCKS-Indian shares rise as China further eases COVID curbs

BENGALURU, Dec 27 (Reuters) - Indian shares opened

higher on Tuesday, led by gains in metals stocks, after China

announced it will further ease its strict COVID-19 restrictions

bolstering expectations of demand recovery in the world's

second-largest economy. The Nifty 50 index was up 0.46% at 18,097.45, as of

09:17 a.m. IST, and the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.47% to

60,850.63. All the major sectoral indexes advanced, with metals

jumping over 1% after top consumer China announced it will stop requiring inbound travellers to go

into quarantine starting from Jan. 8 in a major step towards

easing curbs on its borders. China's COVID-19 management will also be downgraded to the

less strict Category B from the stringent Category-A, the

country's health authority said on Monday. The announcement triggered an uptick in Asian markets. The

MSCI Asia ex-Japan index rose 0.58%. U.S. markets remained shut on Monday for Christmas. Capping the gains in domestic equities are oil prices, which

rose in thin trade on fears of supply disruption due to winter

storms across the United States. Brent crude <LCOc1) rose above

$84 per barrel while Nymex crude jumped above $80 per

barrel. Higher oil prices hurt oil-importing countries like India,

where crude constitutes the bulk of the country's import bill.

($1 = 82.6500 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by

Janane Venkatraman and Eileen Soreng)