sensex
A man looks at a screen across a road displaying the Sensex on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai, India. REUTERS

Indian shares rose for a sixth session on Thursday, led by Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd amidst reports that engineering giant will make rolling stock for India's first bullet train.

At 0630 GMT, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.14 percent at 32,230 while the broader NSE Nifty rose 0.09 percent at 10,088.

Among the top index gainers, Axis Bank advanced 3.6 percent, Sun Pharma rose 2.7 percent, Cipla rose 2 percent while Lupin gained 1.6 percent.

The S&P BSE Capital Goods Index added 0.6 percent while the S&P BSE S&P BSE Healthcare Index was up 1.7 percent.

Shares of Bharat Heavy Electricals jumped about 8 percent after reports that the company will make rolling stock for bullet train. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe on Thursday laid foundation stone for India's first bullet train between Ahmedabad and Mumbai on Thursday.

Himachal Futuristic Communications gained 5 percent after the company said it has exited its corporate debt restructuring program.

But InterGlobe Aviation declined 1 percent. The airlines operator said it will conduct a share sale to institutional investors on Friday that will raise for the company and its founders as much as Rs 3,945 crore.

Reliance Communications declined 2 percent after the company said Sweden's Ericsson has filed insolvency petitions against the telecom company and two of its subsidiaries before the National Company Law Tribunal in Mumbai.

Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks inched down from 10-year highs following a burst of Chinese data which was largely weaker than markets expected.

China's fixed-asset investment, factory output and retail sales all grew less than expected, Reuters reported.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged down 0.1 percent after rising to its highest since 2007 the day before.