The market pared gains in mid-morning trade as profit booking emerged at higher levels. At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 161.39 points or 0.45% at 35,940.46. The Nifty 50 index was up 48 points or 0.45% at 10,785.60. The Nifty slipped below 10,800 mark after opening above that level.

Shares extended recent gains amid positive global cues and strong domestic economic data. Sentiment were also boosted after the appointment of the new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor and as uncertainty surrounding state election outcome receded. Asian shares were positive after British Prime Minister Theresa May survived a no-confidence vote, and as China appeared to be taking more steps to meet US demands to open its markets.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.93%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.86%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1445 shares rose and 647 shares fell. A total of 120 shares were unchanged.

IT shares were mixed. MindTree (down 1.53%), TCS (down 1.22%), Tech Mahindra (down 0.73%), Persistent Systems (down 0.23%), MphasiS (down 0.21%) and HCL Technologies (down 0.17%), edged lower. Wipro (up 0.11%), Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.34%), Infosys (up 0.61%) and Hexaware Technologies (up 1.09%), edged higher.

Most pharmaceuticals shares rose. Piramal Enterprises (up 3.61%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 2.70%), Lupin (up 1.54%), Aurobindo Pharma (up 1.30%), Wockhardt (up 0.99%), Alkem Laboratories (up 0.63%), Strides Shasun (up 0.57%), Cadila Healthcare (up 0.41%) and Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 0.38%), edged higher. IPCA Laboratories (down 0.13%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.36%), Divi's Laboratories (down 0.37%), Cipla (down 0.8%) and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.37%), edged lower.

Pricol surged 13.84% after the company signed a letter of intent with Pointer Telocation to form a joint venture for telematics solutions in India and South East Asia. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 12 December 2018.

Pointer Telocation and Pricol announced that they intend to enter into a joint venture to provide advanced telematics and IoT solutions in India and other countries in South East Asia. Pointer will control 51% interest and Pricol will control 49% interest in this proposed joint venture. Pointer Telocation is a leading developer, manufacturer and operator of Mobile Resource Management (MRM).

Through the joint venture, Pointer and Pricol will provide a variety of telematics solutions to the customers for both the OEM and the aftermarket segments. Pricol will bring its robust manufacturing capabilities as well as strong sales and distribution network in OEM and aftermarket segment. Pointer will provide its capabilities in design and development of telematics solutions, and its strong sales network of telematics service providers, system integrators and mobile operators.

On the domestic data front, India's industrial production (base year 2011-12=100) surged at 11-month high pace of 8.1% in October 2018, compared with 4.5% growth recorded in September 2018. The industrial production growth for September 2018 has been retained unchanged from 4.5% increase reported provisionally.

The all-India general CPI inflation dipped to 17-month low of 2.33% in November 2018 (new base 2012=100), compared with 3.38% in October 2018. The core CPI inflation eased to 5.71% in November 2018 compared with 6.20% in October 2018.

Overseas, Asian shares moved higher on Thursday, building on the momentum seen on Wall Street overnight, as China appeared to be taking more steps to meet US demands to open its markets.

According to media reports, Beijing is working to increase access to foreign companies, a move aimed at smoothing US-China trade relations. The plan would replace the country's Made in China 2025 initiative, reports said. Made in China 2025 is a framework aimed at making China a leader in industries like clean-energy cars and robotics.

US stocks came off session highs but still closed higher Wednesday after a series of developments boosted expectations that a US-China trade deal could be reached in the coming months.

On the data front, the consumer-price index, a key measure of inflation, showed no price growth between October and November, the Labor Department announced Wednesday. Core prices, which eliminate volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.2% month-over-month.

Meanwhile in Europe, UK Prime Minister Theresa May won a crucial vote of confidence in her leadership on Wednesday evening. May won the leadership challenge by 200 votes to 117 votes against her in the ballot of Conservative members of parliament (MPs). May needed a simple majority (at least 159 out of 315 Conservative MPs) to win the confidence vote. Winning this vote means her leadership cannot be challenged for another year now.