The Sensex gained momentum as traders ignored lower than expected IIP data.

IT, banking, realty and oil & gas witnessed good buying action, which backed the upward move.
 
BSE Midcap and Smallcap index also gained 0.17% and 0.65% respectively.

During March 2009, Index for industrial production (IIP) saw a negative growth of 2.3% mainly because of poor performance by the manufacturing segment as compared to negative growth of 0.7% (revised) during the previous month.

During the corresponding month of the last year (2008), IIP stood at 5.5%.

The BSE Sensex belled the day negatively at 11,629.97, down 53.02 points, as against its last closure in which it lost 1.63%.

At 01.55 p.m., the 30-share index Sensex gained 250.46 points at 11,933.45 after hitting a high of 11,939.65 and a low of 11,625.39.

Meanwhile, Nifty surged to 3,620.95 after gaining 66.35 points. It also hit a high of 3,626.30 and a low of 3,534.20.

The overall breadth of the market was positive with 1,207 advancements as against 1,142 declinations.

The top gainers in the 30-share index included Infosys Technologies, which surged 5.30%, Wipro increased 4.32%, HDFC Bank climbed 3.82%, ICICI Bank gained 3.79%, Hindalco Industries advanced 3.66%, and Bharti Airtel was up by 3.39%.

The major losers’ list comprised ACC, which lost 1.54%, HUL dropped 1.35%, Tata Power declined 0.04% and Sterlite Industries (India) dipped 0.02%.

Asian stocks dropped, led by banking institutions and mining firms, as HSBC Holdings announced that the current year will be a tough time.

Nikkei declined 153.37 points to trade at 9,298.61, Hang Seng index came up by 65.69 points to trade at 17,153.64 whereas Shanghai Composite increased 38.42 points to trade at 2,618.17 (2.09 p.m., IST).