BSE Sensex near six-week closing high; L&T gains

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex and Nifty are headed for their highest close in six weeks with the Nifty gaining for the seventh straight session led by blue-chips such as Larsen and Toubro, which gained after signing an agreement with France's Areva for nuclear power projects.

Overall sentiment remained positive as markets across the region gained as weak Chinese trade data intensified expectations for more economic stimulus measures from Beijing.

Investors will keenly watch consumer inflation numbers, due later in the day. Consumer prices likely rose to 5.5 percent in March from a year earlier compared with February's 5.37 percent, according to a Reuters poll of economists.

Corporate earnings, expected to start this week, will be the next medium-term trigger for the markets, analysts said.

"I think markets will trade in a range with a positive bias. Earnings and policy decisions will continue to be the key drivers. We are bullish, especially in infrastructure and power sectors," said Suresh Parmar, head, institutional equities at KJMC Capital Markets.

The benchmark BSE Sensex is up 0.48 percent while the broader Nifty gained 0.49 percent.

Both indexes are heading towards their highest close since March 5.

Infrastructure stocks such as Larsen and Toubro led the gains. L&T gained 1.9 percent after it signed an MoU with France's Areva SA for the Jaitapur nuclear power plant in Maharashtra.

Shares in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd gained 2.6 percent after it said it commissioned a 600 MW thermal power project in Chhattisgarh.

Shares in NMDC gained as much as 3.1 percent after India's largest investor, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), raised stake to 10.12 percent.

However, Gail India Ltd fell 2.8 percent after Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to "underperform" from "neutral".

(Reporting by Indulal PM; Editing by Sunil Nair)