Indian shares edged up to near record highs on Wednesday in choppy trading, boosted by gains in heavyweight financials and healthcare stocks. The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index (.NSEI) was up 0.14% at 15,763.85 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex (.BSESN) fell 0.16% to 52,361.19 by 0403 GMT. Both the indexes closed slightly lower on Tuesday, pressured by concerns around rising global inflation. HDFC Bank Ltd (HDBK.NS) and HDFC Ltd (HDFC.NS) were among the top boosts to the Nifty 50, gaining 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively. Cipla Ltd (CIPL.NS) gained 1.9%, lifting the Nifty Pharma Index (.NIPHARM) by 0.97%. Meanwhile, daily COVID-19 cases in India continued to ease, with data from the health ministry on Wednesday showing 92,596 new infections in the last 24 hours. read more Globally, stocks held near record highs on Wednesday, as investors bet the U.S. Federal Reserve is some way off from tapering its economic stimulus. Market focus was also on a European Central Bank policy meeting and U.S. inflation data due later this week. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.