** Indian benchmark indexes Nifty 50 .NSEI and Sensex .BSESN up 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively

** Financials .NIFTYFIN jump 1%, leading gains

** Shriram Finance SHMF.NS and Muthoot Finance MUTT.NS up 5.4% and 3.6%, respectively, as S&P upgrades rating

** MUTT ups FY25 AUM growth forecast to 40% from 25%-30% earlier, per MD Alexander George Muthoot's comments in an interview to CNBC-TV18

** Metals .NIFTYMET among top gainers as government recommends safeguard duty of 12% on some steel imports

** IT stocks .NIFTYIT, which gain a chunk of their rev from the U.S., down 2% ahead of Fed policy decision today; index tops sectoral losers

** Citi Research says too early to turn constructive on IT due to global uncertainties

** Broader midcaps .NIFMDCP100 and smallcaps .NIFSMCP100 gain around 2% each

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M)

((VivekKumar.M@thomsonreuters.com;))