Sensex heads for longest winning streak in nearly 10 months

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex rose on Wednesday, heading for a ninth straight session of gains, its longest winning streak in nearly 10 months, as defensive shares gained on hopes monsoon will aid sales, while continued optimism over Greek debt talks also helped.

The BSE healthcare and FMCG indices rose 1.2 percent each.

Sentiment was also buoyed as monsoon progress raised expectation that the Reserve Bank of India will cut rates in October than in 2016, as anticipated earlier after delivering three cuts of 25 basis points each in 2015 so far.

Asian shares were near to eking out a sixth session of gains as investors strove to stay optimistic on the chance of a Greek debt deal, while the dollar held firm as the prospect of U.S. rate rises swung back into view.

"Monsoon will aid rural demand and in turn consumption," said G. Chokkalingam, founder of Equinomics, a Mumbai-based research and fund advisory firm.

The Sensex gained 0.38 percent, heading for its longest gaining streak since the nine-session rally to Sept. 3, while the 50-share Nifty rose 0.33 percent.

June-quarter earnings results and the passage of land acquisition and tax reforms in the coming parliament session would also be key for sustaining the rally.

Stocks considered safe led gains. Cigarette maker ITC advanced 0.8 percent and Hindustan Unilever rose 3.1 percent.

Exporters rose after reasonably good U.S. data, comments from Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell, who said he was prepared to raise interest rates twice this year, boosted the dollar overnight.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rose 2.1 percent, while Lupin gained 2 percent.

Among software exporters, HCL Technologies rose 1.5 percent and Wipro gained 1.2 percent.

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)