Indian shares closed higher on Tuesday as crude prices slipped from their peaks, while investors remained cautious of any fresh escalation in U.S.-Iran standoff.

The Nifty 50  ended 0.50% higher at 12,052.95, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex  closed up 0.47% at 40,869.47. Both the indexes had gained as much as 1.1% earlier in the session.

Vedanta Ltd  led gains on the Nifty, closing 3.62% higher, while Bharti Infratel Ltd  ended 1.85% lower, becoming the biggest loser on the index.

"We do not have much clarity again from U.S.-Iran issues, there is still uncertainty staying as a cloud," said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

HDFC Bank Ltd  closed up 1.58% higher. The lender had reported a 25% rise to 10.68 trillion rupees ($13.92 billion)in deposits for the quarter on Monday.

The Nifty Bank index  closed 0.52% higher.

(Reporting by Philip George in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)