The Sensex and the Nifty trimmed gains after hitting fresh intraday high in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty was trading above 11,600 mark. At 14:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 160.9 points or 0.41% at 38,984.47. The Nifty 50 index was up 45.55 points or 0.39% at 11,628.65.

The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.69%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.44%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1178 shares rose and 1126 shares fell. A total of 153 shares were unchanged.

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.466% at 14:20 IST compared with 6.493% at close in the previous trading session.

Rallis India was up 1.17% to Rs 156.25. The company announced that Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) has revoked its earlier closure order. Earlier on 1 July, the company reported that it received a letter from GPCB directing the company to suspend its operations at one of the units in Dahej, Gujarat.

GNA Axles was up 15.65% to Rs 273.35 after the company reported a strong Q1 June 2019 earnings. The company reported 29.9% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 18.18 crore on a 21.37% increase in total income to Rs 258.17 crore in Q1 June 2019 over Q1 June 2018.

FMCG stocks were mixed. Nestle India (up 1.48%), Tata Global Beverages (up 1.35%), Marico (up 1.24%), Bajaj Consumer Care (up 0.8%), Britannia Industires (up 0.68%), Colgate Palmolive (India) (up 0.58%), Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care (up 0.22%), ITC (up 0.11%) and Dabur India (up 0.05%) gained. GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare (down 0.98%), Jyothy Laboratories (down 0.73%), Hindustan Unilever (down 0.39%) and Godrej Consumer Products (down 0.25%) edged lower.

Shares of most public sector oil marketing companies (PSU OMCs) declined as Brent crude oil price increased. Bharat Petroleum Corporation (down 1.04%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (down 0.89%), Indian Oil Corporation (down 0.58%) and edged higher.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for September 2019 settlement was up 70 cents at $67.22 a barrel. The contract fell 49 cents or 0.73% to settle at $66.52 a barrel in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 68.5500, compared with its close of 68.4425 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 August 2019 settlement rose 0.32% at Rs 34,813.

On the macro front, India's industrial production data for May 2019 and CPI inflation rate for June 2019 will be announced after market hours today, 12 July 2019.

Overseas, most European markets were trading higher while most Asian stocks closed on a mixed note on expectations of a rate cut by US Federal Reserve later this month.

In US, the Dow and S&P 500 rose on Thursday to close at record highs as health insurers gained after the Trump administration scrapped a plan designed to rein in prescription drug prices, while financial shares climbed with bond yields.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifying Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee and Thursday in front of the Senate Banking Committee gave investors more hope that a rate cut is coming. The Fed has a two-day meeting on July 30-31.

An important reading of consumer price inflation rose 0.1% in May. Year-over-year, CPI inflation fell to 1.6% in May, from 1.8% in April, with core CPI rising to 2.1% in May, up from 2% in April.