Nifty marks nearly 2-1/2 week closing high ahead of Modi's Independence Day speech

By Abhishek Vishnoi

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex and Nifty rose on Thursday to their highest close in nearly two-and-a-half weeks as blue-chips such as ICICI Bank Ltd gained, tracking higher Asian stocks as soft economic data globally kept up hopes of continued stimulus from central banks.

The broader Nifty was just 0.6 percent shy of the record high of 7,840.95 hit on July 25.

An economic contraction in Japan, a shock fall in Chinese loans, a surprisingly dovish turn by the Bank of England and a sluggish reading on U.S. retail sales all combined to make any tightening in policy seem a distant prospect.

Also, India's wholesale price inflation eased to a five-month low in July, helped by a moderation in fuel costs.

Foreign investors, largely responsible for shares hitting record highs late last month, bought stocks worth 7.18 billion rupees ($117.6 million) on Wednesday, boosting sentiment, according to provisional exchange data.

Markets are closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday but traders would be looking forward to newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech for clues to his reform plans for the world's largest democracy.

"The market needs commitment and I think Modi will deliver that in the key areas of infrastructure and capex revival," said Deven Choksey, managing director at K R Choksey Securities.

The Sensex rose 0.71 percent, or 184.28 points, to end at 26,103.23, its highest close since July 25 when it hit a record high of 26,300.17.

The Nifty rose 0.67 percent, or 52.15 points, to end at 7,791.70, marking its highest close since July 24.

Both the indexes added around 3 percent for the week, also their first gains in three.

Blue-chips led the gainers with ICICI Bank up 1.9 percent, while engineering company Larsen & Toubro finishing 2.1 percent higher.

Tata Motors rose 2.3 percent, while Sesa Sterlite ended 2.8 percent higher.

Upbeat earnings also helped some companies. Oil and Natural Gas Corp gained 2 percent after April-June operating earnings beat estimates.

Voltas Ltd surged 8.8 percent after quarterly results came in above market expectations.

Lanco Infratech gained 4.7 percent, while Adani Power Ltd rose 3 percent after Lanco said on Wednesday it had sold a power plant to Adani for $327 mln to cut debt.

BEML Ltd bucked the trend, falling by its daily limit of 5 percent for the second consecutive session after April-June net loss widened from a year earlier.

(Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)