MUMBAI (Dow Jones)--Indian shares closed higher Thursday, helped by gains in cigarette maker ITC, but pared most of the early gains as the rupee touched a new low versus the dollar and Bajaj Auto's results came below expectations. The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-stock Sensitive Index rose 40.39 points, or 0.3%, to end at 16,070.48, after trading between 16,007.92 and 16,240.18 during the session. Still, the benchmark is down 7.4% over the past month. The National Stock Exchange's 50-stock Nifty index added 11.95 points, or 0.3%, to close at 4,870.20. Trading volume in the BSE's cash segment fell to INR17.76 billion from Wednesday's INR18.48 billion. Decliners beat advancers 1,368 to 1,340, while 134 stocks remained unchanged. "It is only the BSE FMCG [fast moving consumer goods] sector that has done well today, but the overall market isn't looking good in the near term due to the weakening rupee that will increase the cost of imports for companies," said A.K. Prabhakar, senior vice president at Anand Rathi Securities. The rupee fell to a new record low Thursday, likely prompting the central bank to sell dollars. The greenback was last trading at INR54.52, after touching a high of INR54.58. Prabhakar said that the run to safety by investors and hopes that good rainfall will improve the purchasing power of the rural masses boosted shares of consumer goods companies. The BSE FMCG Index ended 1.9% higher at 4644.40, with ITC gaining 3% to INR234.85. Among non-Sensex consumer goods stocks, Nestle India rose 2.6% to INR4,687.65, while Godrej Consumer climbed 2.8% to INR548.90. Monsoon rainfall is important not only to agriculture output but also to the broader economy as more than half of the country's workforce is employed on farms. Rural spending on everything from television sets to gold jewelry rises when monsoon rainfall is normal. Bajaj Auto fell 2.6% to INR1,574.35, after its net profit nearly halved from a year earlier when the Indian two-wheeler maker's results were boosted by a one-time gain. Engineering major Larsen & Toubro was another major laggard, closing 3.5% down to INR1163.35. Nomura's downgrade of Larsen to Reduce from Buy, and a target cut to INR992 from INR1,691 was one of the reasons for the drop. -By Raghavendra Upadhyaya, Dow Jones Newswires; 91 22 61456103; raghavendra.upadhyaya@dowjones.com

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