BENGALURU - Indian shares edged higher on Tuesday, helped energy and information technology stocks, although the gains were capped by worries about the economic impact of surging cases of Delta coronavirus variant in Asia.

By 0347 GMT, the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index climbed 0.26% to 15,925 and the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.40% to 53,176.70.

The Nifty IT index climbed 0.7%, while the energy sub-index rose 0.4%.

However, the spread of Delta variant in key markets in Asia posed new risks and put Chinese authorities on high alert, rattling investor confidence.

In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.40%.

(Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V) ((Sethuraman.NR@thomsonreuters.com; (+91 8061822737); Reuters Messaging: nallur.sethuraman.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))