Benchmark share indices continued to trade with a positive bias led by bank shares as the disappointing April IIP data rekindled hopes of a rate cut by the central bank at its policy meet on June 18. The Sensex was up 53 points at 16,721 and the Nifty added 17 points at 5,070.
In the broader markets, the midcap and the smallcap indices were flat underperforming the Sensex which gained 0.3%.
April IIP growth was at 0.1%. The cumulative growth for the period April-March 2011-12 stands at 2.8% over the corresponding period of the previous year. Capital goods saw the biggest contraction of 16.3%.
Meanwhile, the rupee today lost 26 paise to Rs 56 against the dollar in early trade on the Interbank Foreign Exchange following dollar gains against other currencies overseas amid a weak trend in the equity market.
All the Asian markets were trading lower after the initial euphoria about Spain's bailout plan wore off given the uncertainty over the bailout deatils.The Nikkei index was down 1% followed by Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite, Jakarta Composite, Kospi Composite and Taiwan Weighted lost 0.7-0.8%.
Back home, among the sectoral indices, Consumer Durables, Bankex and Realty gained 0.3-0.8%. On the other hand, FMCG, Health Care. Power and IT gave off 0.2-0.6%.
In the Sensex pack, bank share such as SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank gained between 0.6-1% each on hopes that lower interest rates would help boost credit growth.
Auto shares also rose on hopes of a rate cut after recent data by SIAM showed that passenger car sales slowed to a seven-month low at 2.8% in May in the wake of rising fuel prices and interest rates. Mahindra & Mahindra and Maruti Suzuki up 1-1.5%.
Among the losers were Wipro, Dr Reddys Lab, ITC, Tata Power, Jindal Steel and Hindustan Unilever down nearly 1-2%.
Index heavyweight, Reliance Industries remained flat with a negative bias.
Among other stocks, Bajaj Electricals rose 4% to Rs 193 after the promoters upped theie stake in the company in the past couple of days through open market transactions.
Shares of aviation companies such as Jet Airways, SpiceJet and Kingfisher Airlines gained over 3% on hopes that state-run oil marketing companies may cut aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices on lower crude oil prices.
The market continued to remain negative on the BSE. 1112 stocks declined as compared to 914 advances.
