The markets continued to edge higher in late-morning trades on the back of positive global cues, with the BSE Sensex at 17,483, up 337 points and the Nifty at 5,325, up 105 points.
Earlier in the day, the BSE benchmark index touched the day's high at 17,509 and the day's low at 17,326.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei average climbed 1.5% to a fresh seven-month high in morning trades, edging near 10,000, after Greece closed its bond-swap offer to private creditors successfully, key to securing an international bailout to avoid a messy default. The index is currently at 9,987, up 2.2%. The Shanghai Composite and Hang Seng indices have advanced nearly 1% each.
Back home, all the sectoral indices are in the green. BSE Metal, Capital Goods, Bankex and Consumer Durables indices, up 3-4% each, are leading the gains.
Jindal Steel & Power, JSW Steel, Tata Steel and Hindustan Zinc, up 4-5% each, are the notable gainers from among the Metal stocks.
Alstom Projects India, L&T and Punj Lloyd, up 3-5% each, are the top gainers from the Capital Goods space.
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On the Sensex, Jindal Steel has gained 5% at Rs 565 and is the most prominent gainer. Other gainers from the pack include ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel and Tata Motors, up 4-5% each.
The only loser is Hindustan Unilever, down marginally.
Among individual stocks, Reliance Communications (RCom) is trading higher by 1% at Rs 93-35 on back of huge block deals on the counter.
Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX), the first Indian bourse to list on an exchange, has debuted at Rs 1,387, a 34% premium against its issue price of Rs 1,032 per share on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The stock hit a high of Rs 1,426 on the BSE. The stock is currently trading at Rs 1,350 after having opened at Rs 1,408.
Mahindra Satyam (formerly Satyam Computer Services Limited) has gained 3% at Rs 67.5 over reports that the information and technology consulting and outsourcing company has acquired 100 per cent of vCustomer Corporation's international operations for $27 million (approximately Rs 135 crore).
Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) is trading higher by 4% at Rs 31.15 on reports that the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India wants to divest its 18.81% stake in the company through private placement of shares.
The overall market breadth is positive as 1,754 stocks have advanced against 580 declining ones, on the BSE.